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The  Down-town  Church 


A   Study  of  a   Social   Institution   in 
Transition 


BY 


Clarence  Andrew  Young,  A.M 


A  Thesis  Presented  to  the  Faculty  of  the  Graduate  School  of  the 

University  of  Penns\'lvania,  in   Partial  Fulfilment  of  the 

Requirements  for  the  Degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy 


>'. 


Lancaster,  Pa. 
intelligkncir  printing  company 

I912 


The  Down-town  Church 


A   Study  of  a   Social  Institution  in 
Transition 


BY 


Clarence  Andrew  Young,  A.M. 


A  Thesis  Presented  to  the  Faculty  of  the  Graduate  School  of  thb 

University  of  Pennsylvania,  in  Partial  Fulfilment  of  the 

Requirements  for  the  Degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy 


Lancaster,  Pa. 

Intelligencer  Printing  Company 

1912 


CONTENTS 

INTRODUCTORY  CHAPTER 
The  Scope  and  Method  op  This  Study 5 

CHAPTER  II 
The  Church  as  a  Social  Factor  10 

CHAPTER  III 
A  Typical  Down-Town  District  25 

r  CHAPTER  IV 

The  Down-Town  Churches  op  Philadelphia 35 

CHAPTER  V 
Causes  por  the  Decadence  op  the  Down-Town  Church 83 

CHAPTER  VI 
The  Eppicient  Down-Town  Church  •   Ill 


O/^AQQO 


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http://www.archive.org/details/downtownchurchstOOyounrich 


INTRODUCTORY  CHAPTER 

The  Scope  and  Method  of  This  Study 

The  church,  in  common  with  most  other  social  institutions, 
has  recently  been  receiving  much  consideration  from  the  view- 
point of  social  efficiency. 

There  have  been  those  on  the  one  side,  whose  belief  in  the 
church  as  an  institution  of  supernatural  origin,  whose  devo- 
tion to  it  as  the  custodian  of  divine  truth  and  ordinances,  and 
whose  admiration  for  its  ideals  and  achievements,  have  blinded 
them  to  its  actual  condition.  This  attitude,  while  perfectly 
sincere,  is  manifestly  unscientific.  The  true  friend  of  the 
church  is  not  he  who  doggedly  affirms  that  it  can  have  no 
faults,  but  he  who  recognizes  that,  whatever  its  origin  and 
purpose,  it  is  dependent  upon  human  judgment  for  its  policies 
and  human  personality  for  its  progress,  and  is  therefore  liable 
to  defect,  and  capable  of  improvement. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  are  those  who  freely  criticize  the 
church  as  an  effete  organization.  They  point  to  its  feeble- 
ness and  failure  among  certain  classes,  its  seeming  impotency 
in  staying  social  decay,  and  its  conservatism  of  thought  and 
method,  as  indications  of  its  passing  power.  They  predict 
confidently  that  it  is  doomed  to  early  extinction,  and  they 
infer  that  social  progress  would  not  be  affected  thereby.  This 
attitude  is  also  unscientific. 

Prof.  Ward  points  out  that  "the  proper  and  scientific  atti- 
tude toward  an  institution  that  is  regarded  as  bad  is  not  whole- 
sale condemnation  and  denunciation  as  something  that  is  es- 
sentially bad  and  must  have  always  been  bad,  but  investiga- 
tion to  ascertain  what  stage  of  its  history  it  is  in,  and  whether 
it  is  in  process  of  transformation,  throwing  off  its  outgrown 
elements  and  replacing  them  with  elements  adapted  to  exist- 
ing conditions,  and  therefore  useful.  If  it  is  found  not  to  be 
in  this  dynamic  state,  or  state  of  moving  equilibrium,  it  is 

5 


6  The  Down-town  Church 

proper  to  enquire  whether  by  any  human  action  it  can  be  put 
into  this  state.  "^ 

We  propose  in  this  study,  to  make  an  investigation  of  the 
church  in  one  field  of  activity,  the  down-town  section  of  one 
of  our  great  American  cities.  In  this  section  which  we  be- 
lieve to  be  fairly  typical  of  all,  we  see  a  most  conspicuous  fail- 
ure of  the  church  to  perform  its  social  function.  It  offers 
therefore  a  good  opportunity  for  studying  the  whole  problem 
of  the  place  of  the  church  as  a  factor  in  modern  society,  and 
for  the  consideration  of  the  problem  of  the  readaptation  of  a 
social  institution  for  social  efficiency. 

The  population  of  these  districts  in  our  American  cities,  is 
exceedingly  heterogeneous,  being  made  up  not  only  of  native 
Americans,  but  also  people  of  many  races  and  tongues — "Amer- 
icans in  process."  The  church  therefore  in  order  to  perform 
its  function  must  overcome  long-existing  and  deep-seated 
prejudices,  master  new  tongues,  adjust  itself  to  many  temper- 
aments, and  learn  the  significance  of  many  strange  customs. 
The  adjustments  that  must  be  made  in  the  mission  fields  of 
the  world  to  make  the  church  effective,  must  here  be  made 
within  the  area  of  a  few  square  miles. 

Another  condition  which  confronts  the  church  in  the  down- 
town districts,  is  the  absence  of  restraints  and  motives  which 
make  the  problem  of  the  church  in  more  favored  localities 
less  difficult.  Home  life  is  practically  non-existent  in  these 
sections  among  large  groups.  Many  live  detached  lives  in 
boarding  and  lodging  houses.  The  restraints  of  home  and 
the  affections  of  family-life  that  make  it  easy  to  do  right,  are 
lacking.  Substitutes  are  sought  in  less  desirable  places  and 
the  church  loses  the  hold  that  it  once  had,  to  attract  and  in- 
fluence the  people. 

Even  where  family  life  does  exist  in  this  community,  the 
hours  of  labor,  the  struggle  against  poverty,  and  the  impossi- 
bility of  maintaining  a  decent  standard  of  living,  combine 
to  practically  destroy  the  home  in  many  cases.  If  the  church 
can  stand  the  test  in  the  down-town  districts  its  permanency 
among  other  groups  seems  assured. 


*  Ward,  Lester  F.,  Pure  Sociology,  p.  269. 


The  Scope  and  Method  of  This  Study  7 

But  not  only  does  the  church  receive  its  greatest  test  in 
these  sections,  but  it  also  has  presented  to  it  its  greatest  op- 
portunity to  aid  social  development. 

Here  we  find  all  the  social  problems  that  confront  us  most 
acute.  It  is  in  these  sections  that  housing  conditions  are  most 
threatening  to  health  and  morals ;  where  disease  is  most  strongly 
entrenched  and  hardest  to  combat;  where  poverty  is  most 
general  and  most  disheartening;  where  educational  facilities 
are  most  inadequate  and  least  appreciated;  where  allurements 
to  vicious  pleasure  and  sensuality  most  abound ;  where  vice  and 
crime  lurk  and  find  protection ;  where  restraints  against  evil  are 
fewest  and  inhibitive  powers  are  weakest;  where  every  social 
problem  is  made  more  difficult  of  solution  by  reason  of  the 
stolidity  and  indifference  of  the  people.  It  is  here  that  the 
church  as  an  agent  of  social  control  and  social  progress  is  most 
needed. 

We  shall  see  that  the  church  has  not  performed  its  function 
successfully,  that  it  has  not  understood  its  problem,  and  that 
it  has  despaired  of  accomplishing  what  it  has  conceived  to  be 
its  duty.  But  the  opportunity  is  still  before  it,  and  we  hope  to 
indicate  how  it  may  regain  and  retain  its  place  as  a  factor  of 
social  progress  among  these  groups. 

We  shall  not  consider  the  condition  of  the  church  in  this  sec- 
tion prior  to  1880.  The  changes  which  we  consider  significant 
have  been  most  marked  during  this  period  and  the  causes  lead- 
ing to  the  down-town  problem  of  the  church  have  been  most 
operative  in  recent  years. 

Cities  and  large  towns  have  always  had  their  poverty-dis- 
tricts and  slum-areas.  But  there  are  certain  changes  during 
the  past  third  of  a  century,  which  have  had  a  tendency  to  iso- 
late these  sections  in  our  great  cities  and  to  set  them  off  very 
definitely  from  other  sections  of  the  city. 

During  the  past  thirty  years  they  have  changed  from  a  pre- 
dominantly homogeneous  population,  to  one  essentially  hetero- 
geneous. While  during  the  same  period,  the  drift  to  the  sub- 
urbs has  been  so  large,  and  of  such  a  nature  as  to  cause  a  real 
differentiation  between  "up-town"  and   "down-town." 

There  are  also  other  developments  which  have  affected  the 
whole  attitude  of  people  toward  the  church.     It  is  the  period  of 


8  The  Down-town  Church 

modern  industrial  development.  A  few  of  the  social  effects 
of  that  development  may  be  mentioned:  the  widening  gap  be- 
tween capital  and  labor,  the  development  of  class-interests  and 
class  movements,  the  entrance  of  women  into  industry  leading 
to  their  economic  independence  and  to  the  disintegration  of 
family  life.  As  we  shall  see  in  a  later  chapter,  the  new  condi- 
tions and  the  new  state  of  mind  resulting,  have  seriously  af- 
fected the  church,  which  has  been  looked  upon  as  a  class  insti- 
tution supported  by  the  moneyed  classes  and  pandering  to 
their  interests. 

Trade-unionism  and  Socialism  have  also  had  their  greatest 
development  during  this  period  and  have  come  to  be  looked 
upon  by  many  as  offering  more  to  them  than  the  church.  The 
result  has  been  a  growing  indifference,  if  not  antagonism,  on 
the  part  of  many  to  the  church. 

This  era  has  been  characterized,  too,  by  the  organization  of 
many  social  service  and  ameliorative  institutions  outside  the 
church  which  are  doing  the  work  that  the  church  once  con- 
sidered its  prerogative.  The  result  has  been  a  feeling  that 
religion  is  as  much  outside  as  within  the  church. 

The  increase  of  scientific  discovery  and  the  extension  of  the 
scientific  habit  of  thought  have  also  doubtless  affected,  to 
some  extent,  the  whole  attitude  toward  religion  and  toward 
the  creeds  and  methods  of  the  church.  But  the  result  of  this 
attitude  of  mind  is,  of  course,  not  so  apparent  in  the  down-town 
city  as  in  sections  where  people  have  more  time  and  oppor- 
tunity to  read  and  think. 

We  believe  enough  has  been  said,  however,  to  indicate  the 
bearing  of  modern  social  development  upon  the  down-town 
church  and  to  justify  the  study  of  such  a  limited  section  and  of 
such  a  short  period  in  this  investigation. 

We  propose  in  the  next  chapter,  to  consider  the  origin  and 
extent  of  religious  institutions  and  to  show  that  the  church  is 
a  factor  of  importance  in  social  causation  and  that  it  is  especially 
needed  in  such  sections  as  that  under  investigation.  Chapter 
III  will  be  a  description  of  the  down- town  district  of  Philadel- 
phia with  implications  as  to  the  problems  confronting  the 
church  in  our  down-town  communities.  In  Chapter  IV  we 
shall  describe  in  detail  the  religious  institutions  of  this  dis- 


The  Scope  and  Method  of  This  Sttidy  9 

trict  from  1880  to  the  present,  noting  the  changes  that  have 
taken  place  in  the  number,  strength,  methods,  and  equipment, 
and  also  endeavor  to  estimate  their  value  in  terms  of  social 
efficiency.  In  Chapter  V  we  shall  consider  the  causes  for  the 
decadence  of  the  church  in  this  section,  and  in  the  closing 
chapter  we  shall  suggest  certain  re-adjustments  that  might, 
if  made,  make  the  church  more  effective  in  performing  its 
function  and  thus  in  aiding  social  progress. 


CHAPTER  II 

The  Church  as  a  Social  Factor 

The  universality  of  the  religious  instinct  in  mankind  is  no 
longer  an  open  question  among  the  most  eminent  students  of 
anthropology  and  ethnology.  Dr.  F.  B.  Jevons^  contends  that 
there  never  was  a  time  in  the  history  of  man  when  he  was  with- 
out religion,  and  he  confirms  this  judgment  by  showing  that 
writers,  approaching  the  subject  from  such  different  points  of 
view  as  those  of  Tylor,  Max  Mueller,  Ratzel,  deQuatrefages, 
Tiele,  Waitz,  and  Petschel,  all  agree  that  there  are  no  races 
however  rude  which  are  destitute  of  all  idea  of  religion.  Rat- 
jsel  says:  "ethnography  knows  no  race  devoid  of  religion  but 
only  differences  in  the  degree  to  which  religious  ideas  are  de- 
veloped."^ 

The  only  apparent  exception  is  that  of  the  native  tribes  of 
central  Australia  which  are  described  as  being  without  the 
idea  of  a  deity,  which  have  no  propitiatory  ceremonies  and 
which  lack  "any  such  idea  as  that  of  a  future  life  of  happiness 
or  the  reverse  as  a  reward  for  meritorious  or  as  a  punishment 
for  blameworthy  conduct."^  But  even  in  these  tribes  there 
are  most  elaborate  ceremonies  which  are  believed  to  have 
come  from  their  "Alcheringa  ancestors"  and  which  are  in 
their  essence  and  effect,  religious ;  while  certain  traditions 
relating  to  spirit  individuals,  other  than  their  ancestors,  are 
given  which  quite  refute  the  claim  that  these  tribes  are  wholly 
devoid  of  the  religious  instinct."* 

The  origin  of  religious  instincts  and  institutions  is  to  be 
found  in  man's  sense  of  dependence.  Finding  himself  sur- 
rounded by  forces  beyond  his  control  and  attributing  to  them 

^  An  Introduction  to  the  History  of  Religion,  p.  7. 
'  The  History  of  Mankind,  p.  40. 

*  Spencer  and  Gillen,  Northern  Tribes  of  Central  Australia,  pp.  490-1. 

*  Ibid,  pp.  496-7. 

10 


The  Church  as  a  Social  Factor  il 

volition  and  intelligence^  he  seeks  to  discover  their  will,  to  ap- 
pease their  wrath,  or  to  please  their  fancy  and  to  order  his 
life  in  such  a  way  as  to  enjoy  their  favor.  Ceremonials  in  time 
develop  which  have  the  force  of  supernatural  sanctions,  and 
exercise  a  controlling  influence  upon  the  whole  tribe  or  social 
group.  Shamans  and  priests  arise  who  are  believed  to  possess 
extraordinary  influence  with  the  spirit-world.  Certain  places 
where  unusual  occurrences  have  taken  place  are  thought  of  as 
sacred.  Altars  are  built  and  later  temples.  Thus  gradually 
a  more  or  less  complete  system  of  religious  thought,  forms, 
ceremonies  and  institutions  is  developed. 

Religious  institutions,  therefore,  arise  as  every  other  type 
of  social  institution  to  satisfy  some  need,  real  or  imaginary,  or 
to  conserve  some  interest  believed  to  be  of  vital  importance  to 
the  social  group. 

With  the  increase  of  knowledge,  and  the  development  of  the 
scientific  habit  of  thought  we  have  modified  many  of  the  re- 
ligious beliefs  that  were  confidently  held  in  the  past,  and  the 
religious  institutions  that  characterize  our  civilization  are  su- 
perior to  those  found  among  primitive  people,  but  in  essence 
the  religious  sentiment  remains  the  same  in  all  grades  of  so- 
cial development. 

The  persistency  of  religious  institutions  shows  that  they 
have  been  social  factors  of  importance.  "It  is  a  law  that 
prevails  throughout  all  departments  of  nature,  that  nothing 
can  come  into  being  that  is  not  demanded  by  the  conditions 
existing  at  the  time.  Nothing  that  is  really  useless  can  by  any 
possibility  be  developed.  "^  We  may  assume  then,  that  reli- 
gious institutions  arose  in  response  to  a  social  demand  and 
that  they  have  been  of  value  in  the  past. 

But  the  question  arises:  Is  the  church  demanded  by  the  con- 
ditions existing  today?  Is  it  an  institution  that  is  contribut- 
ing to  social  progress  or  is  it  merely  a  survival  from  more  primi- 
tive conditions  which  society  no  longer  needs  and  which  it  will 


^  "One  of  the  simplest,  most  elemental  traits  of  mind  (is)  the  sense  of  per- 
sonality. To  the  individual  reason,  the  Other,  is  ever  conceived  as  Another, 
a  Self,  and  is  clothed  with  the  attributes  of  the  Self  of  the  thinking  Ego." 
Brinton,  D.  G.,  The  Religion  of  Primitive  People,  pp.  49-50. 

'  Ward,  Pure  Sociology,  p.  268. 


12  The  Down-town  Church 

eventually  dispense  with?  What  is  the  place  of  the  church 
as  a  social  factor? 

Religious  institutions  in  the  past  have  been  largely  regula- 
tive. "The  rule  with  very  few  exceptions  is,  that  religion 
absorbs  nearly  the  whole  life  of  man  under  primitive  condi- 
tions. From  birth  to  death,  but  especially  during  adult  years, 
his  daily  actions  are  governed  by  ceremonial  laws  of  the  se- 
verest, often  the  most  irksome  and  painful  character.  He  has 
no  independent  action  or  code  of  conduct  and  is  a  veritable 
slave  to  the  conditions  which  such  laws  create.'* 

"This  is  especially  visible  in  the  world-wide  custom  of  totemic 
divisions  and  the  tabu  or  religious  prohibition.  These  govern 
his  food  and  drink,  his  marriage  and  social  relations,  the  dis- 
position of  his  property,  and  the  choice  of  his  wives.  An  in- 
fraction of  them  is  out  of  the  question.  It  means  exile  or 
death.  *'i 

But  religious  institutions  are  still  factors  of  the  greatest 
importance  in  social  control,  even  in  our  most  advanced  civil- 
izations. 

We  are  under  the  dominion  of  laws,  customs  and  traditions, 
inherited  from  the  religious  life  of  past  generations,  to  an  ex- 
tent generally  unrealized.  Even  those  who  are  unwilling  to 
be  identified  actively  with  religious  institutions  as  they  exist 
today,  are  fettered  and  limited  by  customs,  opinions,  and  be- 
liefs directly  associated  with  the  church  and  the  teachings  of 
the  church.  It  is  sometimes  predicted  that  chaos  or  a  rever- 
sion to  a  lower  type  would  ensue  if  the  church  were  abolished 
and  the  holding  of  religious  services  prohibited.  But  so  thor- 
oughly has  the  influence  of  religion  permeated  society  that  its 
power  would  be  felt  even  if  the  church  as  an  institution  should 
in  some  way  become  non-existent. 

Not  only  in  this  passive  sense  but  also  in  a  very  active  sense, 
the  church  is  a  factor  of  social  control  of  very  great  importance. 
It  exercises  this  control  through  its  discipline.  This  is  espe- 
cially true  of  the  Catholic  church.  The  recent  Papal  decree 
enforcing  assent  to  traditional  theology  upon  its  priests  and 
teachers,  is  but  typical  of  the  subjection  of  all  its  adherents. 

*  Brinton,  op.  cit.,  pp.  37-8. 


The  Church  as  a  Social  Factor  13 

The  fear  of  excommunication  is  a  very  real  one  and  is  very 
powerful  as  a  restraining  factor.  Even  the  most  profligate 
and  independent  adherents  of  this  church  attend  mass  on 
special  days  and  are  anxious  to  be  under  the  protection  and 
care  of  the  church  at  death.  The  Catholic  church  is  auto- 
cratic in  its  control,  assuming  to  interfere  in  the  most  personal 
and  intimate  relationships  of  life  and  to  direct  the  individual 
or  group  absolutely  in  accordance  with  what  it  considers  proper. 

The  dogmatic  claims  and  paternalistic  attitude  of  this  church, 
combined  with  the  rigor  of  its  discipline,  make  it  a  factor  of 
the  first  importance  in  the  matter  of  social  control  among  this 
large  and  growing  element  of  our  population. 

The  Protestant  church,  from  the  very  nature  of  its  compo- 
sition and  organization,  cannot  assume  the  power  of  discipline 
as  firmly  as  the  Catholic  church.  It  is  a  protest  against  au- 
thority and  dogmatic  claims.  It  has  always  insisted  upon  its 
right  to  form  its  own  judgments,  and  to  shape  its  own  policies. 
But  as  Sabatier^  has  pointed  out,  while  the  Catholic  church 
has  exercised  its  control  through  a  hierarchy  culminating  in  an 
infallible  person,  the  Protestant  church  has  exercised  its  con- 
trol and  exerted  its  influence  through  an  infallible  book.  As- 
sent to  creeds,  therefore,  has  often  been  enjoined  as  dogmatic- 
ally in  the  Protestant  church  as  assent  to  the  decrees  of  coun- 
cils and  popes  in  the  Catholic  church.  The  theological  con- 
troversies of  the  past  and  the  heresy  trials  which  still  take 
place  occasionally,  prove  that  the  Protestant  church  is  not 
wholly  without  its  disciplinary  control. 

Much  of  the  discipline  exercised  by  the  church  has  been 
directed  to  the  preservation  and  strengthening  of  itself  as  an 
organization.  It  is  often  narrow  and  self-centred,  and  in  some 
cases  even  anti-social,  but  its  influence  in  general  has  been  to 
restrain  anti-social  action,  and  keep  its  followers  within  the 
bounds  of  morality. 

Fear  as  a  motive  is  becoming  less  and  less  powerful.  The 
tendency  is  toward  independent  thought  and  action.  But 
among  large  groups  in  our  population  the  belief  that  the  church 
is  a  divine  institution,  possessing  supernatural  truth  and  super- 

*  Sabatier,  Auguste,  Religions  of  Authority. 


14  The  Down-town  Church  ^^^^ 

natural  power,  acts  as  a  restraining  influence  that  is  of  the  ut- 
most importance  and  value  in  maintaining  social  order  and  in 
furthering  social  progress. 

The  church  also  exercises  social  control  in  the  proclamation 
of  its  doctrines  as  well  as  in  the  exercise  of  its  discipline.  The 
doctrines  held  in  common  by  practically  all  sects  of  the  church 
today,  which  have  perhaps  had  most  influence  in  controlling 
men,  are  the  belief  in  a  supernatural  Being  and  the  doctrine  of 
a  future  life. 

It  is  not  the  mere  belief  in  a  supernatural  Being,  however, 
that  is  the  factor  of  greatest  importance,  but  the  belief  that  the 
supernatural  Being  is  pleased  with  certain  kinds  of  action  and 
displeased  with  certain  other  actions.  The  desire  and  effort 
to  enjoy  the  favor  of  the  gods  is  characteristic  of  all  peoples. 
Sacrifices,  offerings  and  prayers  arise  out  of  this  desire.  The 
effort  is  made  by  consulting  oracles  or  by  observing  omens  to 
discover  the  will  of  the  Supreme  Spirit,  or  if  a  body  of  revela- 
tion concerning  him  and  his  will  exists,  the  effort  is  made  to 
conform  the  actions  to  that  will.  The  Bible,  believed  to  be 
the  inspired  Word  of  God,  is  therefore  a  factor  of  the  greatest 
^)  importance  in  the  life  of  today.  Its  teachings  are  so  inter- 
woven with  our  customs,  laws  and  traditions,  that  it  may  be 
said  to  be  the  corner-stone  of  our  civilization  ;  while  for  per- 
haps the  vast  majority  of  our  people  its  precepts,  in  large  part, 
determine  conduct.  At  least  it  is  a  restraining  force  of  the 
very  greatest  value. 

The  other  doctrine,  that  of  a  future  life,  is  equally  import- 
ant with  that  of  a  supernatural  Being.  Of  the  possibilities  of 
this  belief  in  the  matter  of  social  control  Lecky  writes:  "The 
doctrine  of  a  future  life  was  far  too  vague  among  the  pagans  to 
exercise  any  powerful  general  influence  and  among  the  philos- 
ophers who  clung  to  it  most  ardently  it  was  regarded  solely 
in  the  light  of  a  consolation.  Christianity  made  it  a  deterrent 
influence  of  the  strongest  kind Experience  has  abun- 
dantly shown  that  men  who  are  wholly  insensible  to  the  beauty 
and  dignity  of  virtue,  can  be  convulsed  by  the  fear  of  judg- 
ment, can  be  awakened  to  such  genuine  remorse  for  sin  as  to 
reverse  the  current  of  their  dispositions,   detach  them  from 


The  Church  as  a  Social  Factor  15 

their  most  inveterate  habits  and   renew  the  whole  tenor  of 
their  lives.  "^ 

Almost  every  great  religious  revival  has  been  built  upon 
this  belief,^  while  the  doctrine  underlies  almost  all  modern 
preaching.  There  is  no  doctrine  that  the  church  has  held 
with  greater  consistency  and  proclaimed  with  greater  convic- 
tion, and  there  is  no  belief  which  today  is  more  powerful  in 
regulating  the  conduct  of  modern  society.  Like  the  doctrine 
of  a  supernatural  deity  it  acts  in  a  double  way  to  aid  social 
order.  It  acts  as  a  deterrent  from  evil  and  as  an  encourage- 
ment to  virtue. 

Whether  or  not  these  doctrines  are  scientifically  demonstrable 
is  not  at  present  our  concern.  It  is  enough  to  show  that  they 
are  very  generally  believed,  that  the  church  has  been  the  chief 
factor  in  originating  the  beliefs,  and  is  now  the  principal  agency 
in  fostering  them  and  that  they  are  sanctions  of  very  great 
importance  in  regulating  individual  and  social  conduct. 

The  church  is  a  factor  of  social  control  in  other  ways  through 
the  creation  of  public  opinion,  through  its  cultivation  of  rever- 
ence for  law  and  respect  for  authority,  through  its  forms,  rit- 
uals, and  ceremonies,  and  in  general  by  reason  of  its  conserva- 
tism of  thought  and  action.  But  its  restraining  and  regulating 
influence  is  especially  felt  in  the  realm  of  discipline  and  doc- 
trine. Its  place  among  other  social  institutions  is  therefore 
unique.  For  many,  the  church  is  the  most  powerful  of  all  the 
agents  of  social  control.  Society  has  not  yet  reached  the  stage 
in  its  development  when  it  can  safely  dispense  with  the  church. 
At  present,  it  would  seem  that  the  interests  of  society  will  be 
better  served  by  strengthening  the  church. 

But  the  principal  value  of  the  church  as  a  social  force  is  not 
in  the  sphere  of  control,  but  of  progress.  Its  principal  worth 
to  society  is  not  to  restrain  from  anti-social  conduct  but  to  in- 
spire toward  a  better  social  order.  In  other  words  its  influence 
should  be  considered  positive  rather  than  negative. 

It  would  perhaps  be  extravagant  to  credit  the  church  with 
all  the  progress  of  our  western  civilization.  Archeology  shows 
that    wonderful    civilizations    developed    centuries    before    the 

^  Lecky,  History  of  European  Morals,  II,  pp.  3,  4. 
'  Davenport,  Primitive  Traits  in  Religious  Revivals. 


1 6  The  Down-town  Church 

Christian  era.  Social  progress  is  the  result  of  the  operation  ol 
no  one  factor,  but  of  a  complexity  of  forces,  ethnic,  physical, 
economic,  spiritual,  each  contributing  an  element  to  the  final 
result. 

But  recognizing  the  operation  of  many  factors,  we  cannot 
deny  that  the  church  is  a  factor  of  the  greatest  importance  in 
the  development  of  society  today. 

This  is  best  seen  in  its  influence  among  primitive  peoples, 
where  mission  stations  have  been  established  and  missionaries 
have  been  at  work.  In  some  fields  most  remarkable  transfor- 
mations have  taken  place  not  only  in  the  customs  of  the  people, 
but  in  their  very  character.  The  missionary  narratives  of 
such  fields  as  Korea,  the  New  Hebrides,  and  Uganda,  read 
like  romances.  Dr.  Dennis^  shows  in  detail  how  the  dissemina- 
tion of  christian  teaching  under  the  direction  and  influence  of 
the  church  has  led  to  the  giving  up  of  polygamy  and  the  general 
adoption  of  monogamy  as  a  form  of  family  life;  how  magical 
rites  and  ceremonies  and  beliefs  in  shamans  and  witch-doctors, 
have  gradually  been  abandoned  in  favor  of  a  more  rational 
system  of  thought  and  practice  in  the  control  of  nature;  how 
the  elevation  of  women  and  the  protection  of  childhood,  and 
the  care  of  the  aged  and  infirm,  have  been  brought  about, 
where  once  customs  indescribably  cruel  and  heartless  pre- 
vailed; how,  in  short,  almost  every  anti-social  tendency  has 
been  subdued  and  ideals  and  ideas,  institutions  and  customs 
have  been  introduced  favorable  to  progress.  The  contrasts 
between  these  groups  where  christian  institutions  have  been 
established,  and  contiguous  fields  where  the  missionaries  have 
not  yet  begun  operations  are  so  striking  that  one  cannot  but 
recognize  the  value  of  christian  teachings  and  christian  insti- 
tutions as  factors  of  social  progress. 

What  is  there  in  these  teachings,  for  the  dissemination  of 
which  the  church  exists,  that  makes  them  of  value  as  factors  of 
social  causation? 

There  is  first  the  ultra-rational  sanction  which  they  provide 
for  social  conduct.  Prof.  Earp  says,  "the  organized  activities 
of  the  Christian  church  have  done  more  than  any  other  form  of 
social  organization  to  develop  in  the  mind  of  man  the  ideas  of 

^  Dennis,  J.  S.,  Missions  and  Social  Progress,  Volumes  I  and  II. 


The  Church  as  a  Social  Factor  17 

spcial  obligatien,  and  have  furnished  the  real  basis  upon  which 
all  progress  and  civilization  of  an  enduring  character  rests.*'* 

Benjamin  Kidd^  contends,  that  this  has  been  the  chief  func- 
tion of  religion  in  the  evolution  of  society.  The  interests  of 
the  individual  and  those  of  the  social  organism  are  fundament- 
ally and  inherently  irreconcilable.  Following  his  own  instincts 
and  the  dictates  of  his  own  reason,  the  individual  would  make 
social  organization  difficult  if  not  impossible.  There  must  be 
some  agency  strong  enough  to  make  the  individual  subordinate 
his  private  interests  to  the  larger  interests  of  the  group,  some 
motive  or  reason  adequate  to  his  harmonious  co-operation  in 
group  life.  Kidd  finds  this  ultra-rational  sanction  in  religious 
beliefs,  which  he  shows  to  be  universal,  and  always  to  be  as- 
sociated closely  with  conduct  having  social  significance. 

*'We  may  survey  the  whole  field  of  man's  religions  in  so- 
cieties both  anterior  to,  and  contemporaneous  with  our  modern 
civilization,  and  we  shall  find  that  all  religious  beliefs  possess 
these  characteristic  features.  There  is  no  exception.  Every- 
where these  beliefs  are  associated  with  conduct  having  a  so- 
cial significance;  and  everywhere  the  ultimate  sanction  which 
they  provide  for  the  conduct  which  they  prescribe  is  a  super- 
rational  one.  "^ 

There  is  not  such  an  irreconcilable  antagonism  as  Mr.  Kidd 
assumes,  between  the  interests  of  the  individual  and  the  social 
group.  Neither  should  religious  beliefs  be  given  such  an  ex- 
clusive share  of  the  credit  for  their  reconciliation.  But  the 
argument  is  valuable  for  pointing  out  so  clearly  and  so  cleverly 
the  importance  of  the  religious  element  as  a  factor  of  social 
development. 

Has  the  church  any  value  today  in  bringing  the  individual 
into  harmonious  co-operation  with  the  social  group? 

There  may  be  some  doubt  as  to  the  strength  of  its  influence 
in  this  particular  but  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  this  is  the  di- 
rection in  which  its  influence  is  exerted. 

The  life  of  Jesus,  which  the  church  holds  up  for  imitation, 

^  Earp,  E-  R.,  Social  Aspects  of  Religious  Institutions,  p.  70. 
'  Social  Evolution.     Especially  Chapter  4,  "The  Function  of  Religious  Be- 
Mef."  • 

*  Kidd,  op.  cit.,  pp.  111-112. 


1 8  The  Down-town  Church 

tends  to  the  subordination  of  the  interests  of  the  individual  to 
the  interests  of  the  group.  Revealed  as  one  who  came  not  to 
be  ministered  unto  but  to  minister,  who  unselfishly  spent  him- 
self in  relieving  human  need  in  its  many  forms,  who  loved 
humanity  so  passionately  that  he  gave  his  life  to  redeem  it,  his 
life,  in  obedience  to  the  laws  of  imitation,  has  had  and  still  has 
a  profound  influence  upon  lives  that  have  come  under  the 
spell  of  his  personality.  Under  the  influence  of  his  example 
great  religious  orders  have  arisen  which  have  had  as  their 
strongest  bonds  voluntary  poverty  and  service  of  those  in  need ; 
great  missionary  campaigns  have  been  undertaken  by  men  and 
women  who  have  not  hesitated  at  suffering  and  possible  death ; 
and  today,  probably  the  majority  of  those  who  are  working 
among  the  poor  in  professional  or  voluntary  social  service,^  as 
well  as  the  vast  majority  of  church  and  religious  workers,  are 
being  inspired  and  impelled  forward  under  the  force  of  the  in- 
fluence and  example  of  Jesus — all  subordinating  their  own 
interests  to  the  interests  of  society,  and  all  exerting  their  in- 
fluence in  favor  of  social  welfare  and  progress. 

The  teachings  of  Jesus  also  contribute  to  this  ideal  of  group 
co-ordination.  Within  recent  years  a  considerable  body  of 
literature  has  been  created  on  these  social  teachings,  and  an 
increasing  emphasis  is  being  placed  on  this  phase  of  his  teach- 
ings, both  in  theological  schools  and  in  pulpits.  The  emphasis 
in  the  past  has  been  largely  upon  the  individual's  relation  to 
God.  The  emphasis  in  the  future  probably  will  be  more  on 
man's  relation  to  his  fellow-men. 

But  the  church  always  has  emphasized  certain  social  duties 
upon  the  basis  of  the  teachings  of  Jesus — a  recognition  of  re- 
sponsibility for  the  safety  and  well-being  of  others,  the  cul- 
tivation of  the  christian  graces,  all  of  which  are  social  in  their 
final  analysis,  fidelity  in  family  duties,  in  keeping  vows  and 
contracts,  in  maintaining  peace,  and  in  civic  and  political  re- 
lations, in  short,  the  doing  of  all  that  is  promotive  of  the  in- 
terests of  one's  neighbor. 

In   proclaiming   these   doctrines   as   duties   the   church   has 

Out  of  I0I2  social  workers  to  whom  Dr.  W.  D.  P.  Bliss  sent  a  question- 
aire  753  reported  as  having  church  connections — 74%  of  the  whole  number. 
See  The  Outlook,  Vol.  82,  pp.  122  ff. 


The  Church  as  a  Social  Factor  19 

exercised  a  tremendous  influence  in  favor  of  social  justice  and 
thus  of  social  progress.  These  doctrines  have  been  recognized 
as  having  social  utility,  as  being  beautiful  as  moral  and  ethical 
precepts,  and  they  have  enjoyed  the  supernatural  sanction 
which  has  always  helped  to  give  them  prestige  and  power  as 
evolutionary  elements.  Thus  in  helping  the  individual  to  see 
his  relation  to  the  group  and  in  educating  him  to  co-operation 
with  his  fellows  in  group  action  the  church  has  been  a  factor, 
and  a  most  important  one,  in  contributing  to  social  progress. 

The  ethical  character  of  the  Christian  religion  has  also  made 
it  an  evolutionary  force  of  the  first  magnitude.  Tracing  the 
growth  of  humanitarianism,  the  abolition  of  slavery,  the  gradual 
breaking  down  of  that  military  organization  of  society  which 
had  previously  prevailed,  the  gradual  "emancipation  and  en- 
franchisement of  the  great  body  of  the  people,  hitherto  uni- 
versally excluded  from  all  participation  on  equal  terms  in  the 
rivalry  of  existence,"  Benjamin  Kidd  concludes  that  this  pro- 
cess of  social  development  which  has  been  taking  place  and 
which  is  still  in  progress  is  not  the  product  of  the  intellect,  but 
that  the  motive  force  behind  it  has  had  its  seat  and  origin  in 
that  fund  of  altruistic  feeling  with  which  our  civilization  has 
become  equipped,  and  furthermore,  that  "this  altruistic  de- 
velopment and  the  deepening  and  softening  of  character  which 
have  accompanied  it  are  the  direct  and  peculiar  product  of  the 
religious  system  on  which  our  civilization  is  founded."  "It  is 
this  which  provides  the  prime  motive  force  behind  the  whole 
series  of  political  and  social  phenomena  peculiar  to  our  civiliza- 
tion which  we  include  together  under  the  general  head  of 
'Progress'."! 

The  doctrine  of  brotherhood  is  one  of  the  most  characteris- 
tic of  the  Christian  doctrines  and  from  the  first  it  has  been  a 
socializing  force  of  great  value.  Says  Lecky,  "The  first  as- 
pect in  which  Christianity  presented  itself  to  the  world  was  a 
declaration  of  the  fraternity  of  men  in  Christ  .  .  .  from  this 
notion  grew  up  the  eminently  christian  idea  of  the  sanctity  of 
all  human  life."  "Besides  quickening  greatly  our  benevolent 
affections  it  definitely  and  dogmatically  asserted  the  sinfulness 
of  all  destruction  of  human  life  as  a  matter  of  amusement,  or  of 

^Social  Evolution,  p.  170. 


20  The  Down-town  Church 

simple  convenience,  and  thereby  formed  a  new  standard  higher 
than  any  which  then  existed  in  the  world."  "This  minute 
and  scrupulous  care  for  human  life  and  human  virtue  in  the 
humblest  forms,  in  the  slave,  the  gladiator,  the  savage,  or  the 
infant,  ...  is  the  distinguishing  and  transcendent  character- 
istic of  every  society  into  which  the  spirit  of  Christianity  has 
passed."  "The  high  conception  that  has  been  formed  of  the 
sanctity  of  human  life,  the  protection  of  infancy,  the  elevation 
and  final  emancipation  of  the  slave  classes,  the  suppression  of 
barbarous  games,  the  creation  of  a  vast  and  multifarious  or- 
ganization of  charity,  the  education  of  the  imagination  by  the 
Christian  type,  constitute  together  a  movement  of  philanthropy 
which  has  never  been  paralleled  or  approached  in  the  pagan 
world.  "1 

Upon  this  doctrine  of  the  brotherhood  of  man  are  being 
built  hopes  of  universal  peace,  of  equality  of  opportunity  in 
the  struggle  for  existence,  of  the  extension  of  the  spirit  of  sym- 
pathy and  humanity,  in  short,  of  a  better  and  juster  social 
order  which  will  be  characterized  by  true  liberty,  equality  and 
fraternity. 

The  church  even  in  its  earliest  beginnings,  never  emphasized 
the  ethical  elements  in  the  teachings  of  Jesus  as  strongly  as  it 
is  doing  today.  If  then  it  has  been  a  factor  of  social  progress 
in  the  past,  it  is  certain  to  be  a  more  important  one  in  the  fu- 
ture. It  is  true  that  the  ethics  of  Jesus  have  so  pervaded  our 
social  atmosphere,  as  to  find  expression  in  many  other  ways 
than  through  the  church.  But  the  church  is  still  the  chief 
custodian  of  his  teachings  and  the  chief  influence  and  agent  in 
deepening  and  strengthening  humanitarian  impulses.  Edu- 
cational attempts  to  impart  moral  teachings  and  ethical  cul- 
tural societies  for  the  extension  of  true  conceptions  of  right 
and  duty  have  their  value,  but  they  lack  the  "ultra-rational 
sanction"  which  makes  them  to  most  people  vital  and  com- 
pelling. 

The  church  is  still  needed.  The  religious  element  cannot  be 
dispensed  with.  Ethical  precepts  still  need  a  "thus  saith  the 
Lord"  to  make  them  binding.  The  church  is  then  a  factor  in 
social  progress  in  the  impetus  which  it  gives  to  humanitarian 

*  Quoted  by  Ross,  Social  Control,  pp.  206-7. 


The  Church  as  a  Social  Factor  21 

effort  and  the  cultivation  which  it  promotes  of  ethical  impulses 
and  conduct. 

The  ideals  for  which  the  church  has  always  stood  have  also 
made  it  a  factor  of  importance  in  social  progress.  "Each  of 
the  higher  religions  owes  some  of  its  efficacy  to  the  types  and 
models  it  is  able  to  set  before  the  faithful.  Each  contributes 
to  the  general  stock  of  ideals  in  society  its  pattern  lives,  charac- 
ters, and  virtues,  so  movingly  set  forth  in  narratives,  examples, 
parables,  legends,  and  myths,  as  to  win  and  hold  the  love  of 
generations  of  men."^  Each  of  the  great  religions  has  fostered 
ideals  of  value  to  society.  But  no  religion  is  richer  in  ideals 
than  is  Christianity.  And  no  religion  has  such  well  organized 
agencies  for  the  declaration  and  display  of  its  ideals  as  Chris- 
tianity. Every  minister  makes  frequent  reference  to  these 
ideals  and  each  adherent  is  urged  and  expected  to  be  the  living 
embodiment  of  them,  while  the  Bible  especially  among  Protest- 
ant christians  is  a  constant  reminder  of  what  these  ideals  are, 
how  they  may  be  attained,  and  the  motives  for  their  attain- 
ment. 

These  ideals  may  be  grouped  under  four  heads,  (i)  The 
ideal  man  in  society  whose  life  will  be  patterned  after  that  of 
Jesus  Christ;  (2)  Ideal  laws  and  precepts  for  the  government 
of  human  conduct  in  social  relations  based  upon  the  teachings 
of  Scripture  and  especially  the  discourses  of  Jesus;  (3)  Ideal 
forms  of  social  organization  to  make  these  laws  and  precepts 
effective;  (4)  The  ideal  society  toward  which  humanity  as  a 
whole  is  progressing — the  Kingdom  of  God,  wherein  dwelleth 
righteousness  and  peace.^ 

What  we  admire  we  imitate  and  when  the  ideals  of  Chris- 
tianity are  presented,  they  compel  admiration  and  imitation 
and  so  lead  to  progress. 

The  principal  value  of  the  church  to  modern  society  is  its 
presentation  of  these  ideals  of  personal  character  and  conduct, 
and  of  social  organization  and  achievement,  and  its  encourage- 
ment and  inspiration  in  attaining  to  their  realization. 

Only  a  certain  type  of  individual  can  be  coerced  in  the  di- 
rection of  progress.  But  ideals  appeal  to  all  and  unconsciously 
impel  forward.  ' 

*  Ross,  op.  cit.,  p.  229. 

'  See  Earp,  Social  Aspects  of  Religious  Institutions,  pp.  125-7. 


22  The  Down-town  Church 

Here  again  the  church  occupies  a  unique  position  among 
social  institutions.  Other  institutions,  it  is  true,  have  their 
ideals.  Schools  have  ideals  in  the  realm  of  intellect.  Govern- 
ments have  their  ideals  of  organization  and  efficiency.  Every 
profession  has  its  standards  of  success  and  achievement.  But 
the  church  alone  makes  ideals  of  conduct  and  character  in 
harmony  with  social  order  and  progress  a  specialty.  It  exists 
primarily  for  the  actualization  of  ideals.  Idealism  is  its  raison 
d'etre. 

Society  has  many  devices  for  keeping  its  individual  members 
within  certain  limits  believed  to  be  necessary  for  the  safety  and 
progress  of  society.  It  has  laws  designating  the  bounds  within 
which  one  must  keep  and  the  penalties  which- one  will  incur  for 
failure  to  do  so.  It  has  institutions  to  educate  individuals  as 
to  its  nature  and  purpose.  It  has  agencies  to  restrain  and 
regulate,  and  fosters  customs  to  make  social  action  easy.  But 
with  few  exceptions  society's  institutions  are  regulative  rather 
than  inspirational.  They  secure  control  and  only  incidentally 
lead  to  progress. 

It  is  here  that  the  church  finds  its  opportunity.  It  is  in 
this  sphere  that  it  realizes  its  function.  By  appealing  to  the 
emotive  powers  of  man,  by  educating  his  feelings  and  desires 
and  strengthening  his  will,  it  secures  his  co-operation  without 
threats  and  exercise  of  force.  Instead  of  surrounding  man 
with  restrictions  it  seeks  to  inspire  him  to  do  right.  Instead  of 
working  from  without  inward  it  operates  from  within,  out- 
ward. Its  control  is  therefore  more  effective  and  more  con- 
stant. 

The  church  is  often  criticised  because  it  does  not  take  a  more 
active  and  prominent  part  in  practical  economic  and  social 
reform.  But  while  there  is  some  basis  for  the  criticism,  there 
is  reason  to  believe  that  the  church  does  its  best  work  in  the 
realm  of  idealism.  This  is  its  peculiar  sphere,  and  in  this  way 
it  exercises  its  greatest  influence  in  favor  of  social  progress. 

"It  is  not  the  function  of  the  church  to  get  justice  between 
man  and  man  but  to  help  individuals  to  discern  and  want 
justice;  not  the  function  of  the  church  to  settle  strikes  but  to 
make  men  conciliatory;  not  to  elect  temperance  advocates  to 
office  but  to  make  men  will  to  be  temperate.     It  is  not  the 


The  Church  as  a  Social  Factor  23 

function  of  the  church  to  settle  any  concrete  social  problem 
that  falls  outside  of  its  own  function  of  worship.  Its  function 
is  to  inspire  each  one  to  do  his  social  duty."* 

The  church  is  doubtless  open  to  criticism  in  many  particulars. 
It  does  not  any  more  than  most  other  institutions  function 
perfectly.  But  it  has  a  place  in  society.  There  is  no  other  in- 
stitution that  could  occupy  its  sphere,  no  other  institution  or 
group  of  institutions  that  could  become  an  adequate  substi- 
tute for  it.  Its  antiquity,  the  supernatural  sanction  which  it 
enjoys,  the  really  high  standards  of  morality  connected  with  it, 
and  the  ideals  indissolubly  associated  with  it,  make  it  an  insti- 
tution of  peculiar  influence  among  a  large  element  of  the  popu- 
lation. 

The  church  is  an  institution  of  value  among  all  classes  if  it 
is  performing  its  function.  But  nowhere  is  it  more  necessary 
that  there  should  be  such  an  institution  as  the  church  than  in 
the  down-town  sections  of  our  cities  where  the  forces  that  dis- 
integrate society  are  particularly  strong  and  the  forces  that 
tend  to  progress  are  especially  weak.  In  no  other  localities 
are  environing  conditions  more  conducive  to  anti-social  con- 
duct and  inhibitive  forces  more  feeble.  Inducements  to  moral 
living  are  here  less  frequent  and  less  virile,  while  enticements 
to  self-indulgence  and  dissipation  are  especially  numerous  and 
attractive. 

Indifference  and  often  antagonism  to  the  ideal  are  the  pre- 
vailing characteristics.  Many  have  been  defeated  in  the  strug- 
gle of  life  and  have  become  satisfied  with  low  standards  and 
ideals.  Many  need  to  be  curbed  and  controlled  in  the  interests 
of  the  group.  Many  more  need  spiritual  uplift  and  moral  in- 
vigoration. 

The  problem  of  the  church  in  such  communities  is  to  arouse 
people  from  their  indifference  to  the  call  of  the  higher  life,  and 
to  bring  them  into  vital  and  vitalizing  contact  with  personali- 
ties and  ideals  of  compelling  attractiveness  and  transforming 
power. 

The  problem  before  all  social  workers  and  friends  of  humanity 
is  "how  to  get  all  men  or  the  greatest  number  so  to  act  as  to 
contribute  to  the  attainment  of  the  fullest  life  of  the  individual, 

*  Prof.  A.  W.  Small,  in  Independent,  53:  481. 


24  The  Down-town  Church 

the  social  group,  and  humanity  at  large,  and  to  deter  and  per- 
suade others,  not  to  hinder  or  interfere  with  such  attainment. " 
We  believe  that  no  institution  can  do  more  toward  the  solu- 
tion of  this  problem  than  the  Christian  church.  Its  contribu- 
tion to  social  progress  in  the  past  is  unquestioned.  Its  influence 
is  still  greater  than  is  generally  recognized  or  acknowledged. 
With  certain  readjustments  we  believe  it  will  continue  to  be  a 
force  second  to  none  in  the  elevation  of  society. 


CHAPTER  III 
A  Typical  Down-Town  District 

One  of  the  most  widely  observed  and  significant  social  changes 
of  the  past  century  was  that  of  the  growth  of  cities.  "Not 
only  has  the  population  living  in  cities  increased  enormously 
in  absolute  numbers,  .  .  .  but  the  proportion  of  the  total 
population  dwelling  in  cities  has  increased  in  almost  as  re- 
markable a  manner.  The  United  States  forms  a  striking  ex- 
ample of  this  development.  Owing  to  the  enormous  extent  of 
its  unoccupied  and  unsettled  territory  and  the  rapid  rate  at 
which  it  has  occupied  the  wilderness,  we  should  have  expected 
to  find  simply  this  tendency  to  diffusion,  but  parallel  with  it 
has  gone  a  tendency  to  concentrate  in  great  cities."* 

During  the  19th  century,  the  proportion  of  urban  dwellers 
in  the  United  States  grew  from  4.0  per  cent,  to  33.1  per  cent, 
while  the  number  of  cities  of  8000  or  more  population  increased 
from  6  to  545.*  The  Population  Bulletin  of  the  13th  Census 
(1910),  which  classifies  as  urban,  places  of  2500  or  more  in- 
habitants, shows  that  46.3  per  cent,  of  the  population  of  the 
United  States  is  now  urban.  The  proportion  in  1880  was  29.5 
per  cent.  There  are  fourteen  states  in  which  more  than  half 
the  population  is  classified  as  urban.  In  Rhode  Island  the 
proportion  is  96.7  per  cent.;  in  Massachusetts,  92.8  per  cent.; 
while  even  in  Illinois,  the  great  prairie  state  of  the  middle  west, 
the  proportion  is  61.7  per  cent. 

This  rapid  growth  of  urban  centers,  in  large  part  due  to  our 
industrial  development,  has  created  many  problems,  social, 
economic,  political,  and  moral.  It  has  made  necessary  the 
readjustment  of  many  established  institutions. 

^  Edmund  J.  James,  Growth  of  Great  Cities,  An.  Amer.  Acad.,  Jan.,  1899' 
p.  I. 

^Twelfth  Census  of  United  States,  igoo.  Vol.  I,  "Population,"  Part  i,  p. 
LXXXIII. 

25 


26  The  Down-town  Church 

Most  of  these  problems  center  in  what  are  generally  known 
as  the  "down-town"  sections  of  our  cities.  Here  at  least 
they  are  most  acute  and  difficult  of  solution. 

The  distinction  between  "down-town"  and  "up-town," 
slum  and  suburb,  has  grown  to  be  a  very  real  one.  The  dif- 
ferentiation has  taken  place  very  gradually  but  very  percep- 
tibly. 

The  growing  value  of  urban  land  compels  the  city  dweller 
either  to  migrate  to  the  suburbs,  or  to  live  in  smaller  and  less 
desirable  apartments.  Those  whose  economic  position  and 
conditions  of  employment  make  it  possible,  choose  the  sub- 
urbs, with  their  obvious  advantages.  The  poorer  and  the  less 
ambitious,  augmented  by  immigrants  with  low  standards,  are 
left  behind.  The  houses  vacated  become  under  the  pressure 
of  increasing  population  and  advancing  rentals,  first  boarding 
and  lodging  houses,  then  furnished-room  and  tenement  houses. 
The  process  once  begun,  the  deterioration  of  the  neighborhood 
proceeds  with  great  rapidity.  Those  who  have  moved  away 
from  the  neighborhood  lose  interest  in  it,  think  of  it  as  the 
"slum"  or  the  "tenderloin,"  and  have  no  further  connection 
with  it  other  than  to  collect  rents  or  to  support  missions  and 
charitable  institutions  established  there. 

The  differences  assume  eventually  the  nature  of  a  class 
struggle.  The  people  of  up-town  wards  are  conservatives  and 
constitutionalists;  those  of  the  down-town  wards  are  radicals. 
The  well-to-do  people  of  the  suburbs,  dependent  upon  the 
dividends  of  capitalism,  view  the  industrial  struggle  from  the 
standpoint  of  the  employer.  The  wage-earning  class  of  the 
poorer  districts  naturally  sympathizes  with  the  employee;  the 
educated  class  looks  on  the  other  with  suspicion;  the  class 
that  has  had  fewer  opportunities  of  education  and  culture 
looks  back  with  bitterness  and  hate.  The  establishment  of  in- 
stitutions for  social  welfare  by  charitably  inclined  individuals 
is  looked  upon  as  a  method  of  allaying  discontent  and  of  post- 
poning an  era  of  justice;  while  the  establishment  of  missions 
by  the  up-town  churches  is  interpreted  to  imply  that  the  well- 
to-do  of  the  suburbs  are  saints,  while  the  poor  people  who  live 
down-town  are  sinners. 

Every  city  of  considerable  size  has  its  down-town   district 


A   Typical  Down-town  District  27 

and  the  separation  of  the  down-town  community  will  be  in 
direct  proportion  to  the  size  of  the  city,  for  the  differentiation 
is  due  mostly  to  lack  of  contact  and  association. 

The  down-town  sections  of  no  two  cities  will  be  found  to  be 
alike,  but  as  the  kaleidoscope,  though  revealing  different  figures 
at  each  successive  turn  yet  forms  them  out  of  the  same  ele- 
ments, so  the  down-town  districts  though  quite  different  in 
different  cities  are  composed  essentially  of  the  same  elements, 
and  present  practically  the  same  problems. 

These  districts  may  be  designated  as,  first,  the  business 
district  where,  though  many  people  still  live  in  the  section, 
business  houses  and  factories  predominate.  Second,  the  dis- 
trict where  poor  native  Americans  predominate — the  lodging- 
house,  cheap  boarding-house  or  rented-room  district  that  is  to 
be  found  in  every  city.  Third,  the  district  in  which  the  re- 
cently arrived  foreign  born  predominate — known  as  the  foreign 
quarter  in  any  large  American  city.  We  shall  describe  in  this 
chapter  these  three  districts  as  we  find  them  today  in  Phila- 
delphia. 

I.  The  Business  District 

This  district  may  be  said  to  occupy  the  territory  between 
Vine  St.  on  the  north,  and  Spruce  St.  on  the  south,  between 
Broad  St.  on  the  west  and  the  Delaware  River  on  the  east.  It 
comprises  most  of  the  eastern  end  of  the  city  as  originally 
laid  out  by  William  Penn.  Beginning  at  the  river,  business 
has  gradually  pushed  its  way  westward  until  today  the  dis- 
trict extends  several  blocks  west  of  Broad  St.  Within  the  past 
two  decades.  Arch,  Race,  Cherry,  and  Walnut  Streets  have  been 
converted  from  residential  streets  into  business  thoroughfares. 
Many  of  the  old  residences  still  stand,  the  lower  floor  being 
used  for  commercial  purposes,  while  the  upper  stories  are  con- 
verted into  offices  or  used  as  apartments. 

In  the  small  streets  and  courts  which  lie  between  the  main 
thoroughfares  there  is  still  a  considerable  population.  A  re- 
cent editorial  in  one  of  the  Philadelphia  papers^  thus  speaks  of 
the  houses  of  this  district  ;  "In  the  old  parts  of  the  town,  and 
principally  in  the  old  city,  east  of  Broad  St.  and  between  South 


^The  Philadelphia  Press,  Feb.  28th,  1910. 


28  The  Down-town  Church 

and  Vine,  with  some  in  the  squares  north  and  south  of  these 
streets,  there  are  from  3000  to  4000  small  houses  on  the  narrow 
streets  and  alleys  crossing  the  large  squares  which  are  as  bad 
as  anything  in  New  York  and  sometimes  worse. 

"•These  small  houses  still  use  cess-pools.  They  are  shadowed 
by  higher  buildings.  They  are  only  worth  $1000  to  $2000 
apiece.  Their  owners  are  generally  poor.  They  are  not  kept 
in  repair.  They  are  crowded.  Often  a  cellar  holds  a  family. 
In  winter  the  narrow  ways  that  reach  them  are  choked  with 
snow.  In  summer,  their  airless  rooms  reek  with  heat  and 
noisome  odors. 

"  These  small,  crowded,  antiquated  dwellings,  built  fifty  or 
one  hundred  years  ago,  often  when  the  block  in  whose  center 
they  stand  was  still  an  open  field,  hold  most  of  the  new  cases 
of  tuberculosis  in  the  city.  A  consumption  map  of  the  city 
dots  the  squares  where  they  stand  with  cases." 

Only  one  complete  ward  is  contained  in  this  district — the 
sixth.  Its  population  in  1880,  was  10,004;  in  1890,  8712;  in 
1900,  8042;  in  1910,  6374. 

All  the  other  wards  that  form  part  of  this  district,  the  eighth, 
ninth,  tenth,  and  fifth,  have  also  steadily  declined  in  popula- 
tion except  the  fifth,  into  which  the  Jews  of  recent  years  have 
been  pouring.  The  steady  growth  of  business  in  the  district 
has  lead  to  a  steady  decline  in  the  population,  but  there  will 
probably  be  little  further  change  as  most  of  the  sites  that 
would  be  desirable  for  business  purposes  have  been  secured. 

At  the  eastern  end  of  the  district  are  the  Camden  ferries  and 
various  docks  and  piers  for  shipping,  together  with  large  ware- 
houses. Next  we  come  to  the  wholesale  district,  commission 
houses,  and  produce  markets.  From  Second  St.  west  to  Sixth 
St.  one  finds  most  of  the  banks,  the  stock  exchanges,  clearing- 
house, insurance  offices,  and  other  financial  institutions.  In 
this  section  too  are  found  many  of  the  old  landmarks  of  his- 
toric interest,  Independence  Hall,  Carpenter's  Hall,  Old  Christ 
Church,  the  old  Friend's  Meeting  House  at  Fourth  and  Arch 
Streets,  and  the  graveyard  where  Franklin  and  other  patriots 
lie.  From  Sixth  St.  on  to  Broad  St.  is  the  retail  district  of  the 
city.  On  the  northern  side  of  this  western  half  of  this  dis- 
trict is  the  tenderloin,  where  prostitution  has  intrenched  it- 


A  Typical  Down-town  District  29 

self  and  flourishes  with  only  occasional  molestation.  Here  one 
finds  the  characteristic  cheap  theatres,  saloons,  museums, 
shooting-galleries,  and  pawn  shops  that  always  distinguish 
these  sections,  while  battling  against  them  are  a  few  mission 
halls  and  two  churches,  neither  of  which  is  influencing  the  neigh- 
borhood to  any  appreciable  extent. 

South  of  the  retail  district  is  an  old  aristocratic  neighbor- 
hood, in  the  midst  of  which  is  a  small  section  inhabited  by  the 
lowest  class  of  Negroes  and  whites,  known  as  '*  Hell's  Half 
Acre."  This  section  centers  at  Tenth  and  Locust  Streets.  On 
side  streets  leading  to  the  very  back  doors  of  these  fine  old 
Philadelphia  homes  on  Spruce  St.,  can  be  seen  the  lowest  kind 
of  Negro  and  white  prostitutes,  while  on  the  corners  can  al- 
ways be  seen  Negro  loafers,  many  of  them  well-dressed;  they 
exercise  considerable  political  influence  and  are  said  to  live  on 
the  proceeds  of  prostitution. 

2.  The  Lodging-House  and  Rented-Room  District 

In  the  district  from  Vine  to  Poplar  Streets,  east  of  Broad  St. 
native  Americans  predominate,  although  east  of  Sixth  St.  there 
is  a  large  Jewish  population.  Notwithstanding  the  conversion 
of  many  single  residences  into  furnished  room  apartments,  the 
population  of  the  district  has  remained  fairly  constant  during 
the  past  thirty  years.  The  population  in  1880  was,  68,618; 
in  1890,  65,793;  in  1900,  62,525,  and  in  1910,  66,017.  The 
extension  of  business  along  certain  streets,  crowding  the  popula- 
tion into  smaller  quarters,  has  led  to  considerable  congestion. 

At  the  eastern  end  of  the  district  one  finds  shipping  piers, 
railroad  yards,  and  large  warehouses.  In  the  narrow  strip 
between  Second  St.  and  the  river  there  are  still  many  native 
Americans,  also  many  German  and  Irish  Americans.  There  are 
also  a  number  of  cheap  lodging  houses  along  Front  St.  from 
Green  St.  to  Poplar  St.  From  Second  St.  to  Sixth  St.  Russian 
Jews  predominate,  altho  there  are  still  many  German-Americans 
in  this  section. 

The  section  west  of  Sixth  St.  about  three-quarters  of  a  mile 
square,  is  the  furnished-room  and  lodging-house  district  of  the 
city.  The  northern  section  of  this  district  still  contains  many 
single  houses  occupied  by  workingmen  and  their  families,  but 


30  The  Down-town  Church 

the  district  becomes  gradually  more  congested  as  one  goes 
southward.  Here  the  familiar  sign,  "Furnished  Rooms,"  may 
be  found  upon  nearly  every  house.  These  furnished-room- 
houses  were  all  built  for,  and  occupied  by  single  families  origin- 
ally, but  it  is  not  uncommon  now  to  find  a  family  in  each  room. 
Many  of  these  houses  should  be  classed  as  tenements,  as  the 
law  provides  that  any  house  in  which  three  or  more  families 
live  and  do  their  cooking  shall  be  so  designated,  but  the  re- 
cently organized  Department  of  House  Inspection  has  been  so 
inadequately  equipped,  that  practically  only  those  that  have 
voluntarily  applied  for  a  license  have  this  distinction.  The 
rent  of  a  furnished  room  varies  from  $1.50  to  $3.00  a  week  ac- 
cording to  size  and  respectability,  the  tenant  being  given  the 
privilege  of  "light  housekeeping."  The  crowding  of  many 
families  into  these  houses  built  for  one  family  constitutes  a 
very  serious  problem  in  housing  and  sanitation  and  calls  for 
much  more  adequate  and  thorough  inspection  than  is  now  pos- 
sible. 

The  people  found  in  this  district  are  of  several  classes.  There 
are  American  workmen,  skilled  and  unskilled,  employed  in  the 
large  industrial  plants  nearby.  They  will  for  the  most  part  be 
ifound  in  single  houses.  Then  there  are  the  young  men  and 
young  women,  whose  homes  are  out  of  town,  who  are  employed 
in  the  stores  and  offices  and  who  live  in  the  boarding-houses 
near  enough  to  be  able  to  walk  to  their  work  morning  and  even- 
ing. The  better  class  of  boarding  houses  are  now  to  be  found 
on  the  other  side  of  Broad  St.,  but  many  are  still  found  in  this 
district.  Next  one  finds  the  lowest  class  of  unskilled  laborers 
and  their  families.  They  are  found  in  the  furnished-room- 
houses  and  in  the  narrow  streets  and  small  courts.  Another 
group  is  made  up  of  the  homeless  and  transient  class  to  be 
found  in  every  large  city.  Cheap  lodging  houses  of  all  degrees 
of  respectability  and  cleanness  shelter  this  element  of  the  pop- 
ulation. These  are  the  lowest  of  all  the  groups  to  be  found  in 
the  down-town  district.  "Unskilled,  unambitious,  shiftless, 
intemperate,  they  form  the  most  hopeless  of  all  the  classes. 
They  subsist  by  street-begging  and  petty  thieving,  with  an  oc- 
casional job.  The  daily  goal  of  their  hopes  is  a  night's  lodging 
and  strong  drink  as  much  as  possible."^ 

*  Americans  in  Process,  p.  127. 


A   Typical  Down-town  District  31 

In  addition  to  these  classes  this  district  also  has  two  small 
colonies  of  Negroes,  one  in  the  north-western  corner,  and  one 
in  the  extreme  northern  part.  The  former  is  of  a  much  higher 
type  than  the  latter.  There  are  two  strong  Negro  churches 
in  the  district. 

Such  is  the  lodging-house  and  rented-room  district.  It  is 
the  typical  slum  section  of  the  city,  into  which  have  gravitated 
the  defeated,  the  vicious,  and  the  most  needy  of  all  social 
classes. 

Practically  all  the  churches  of  the  district  have  waged  a 
losing  battle.  Many  of  them  have  acknowledged  their  de- 
feat by  a  retreat  to  more  favorable  neighborhoods. 

J.  Tine  Foreign  Quarter 

The  next  district  which  forms  part  of  the  down-town  section 
is  that  in  which  foreign-born  predominate.  Roughly  speaking, 
this  is  the  district  south  of  Spruce  St.  and  east  of  Broad  St. 
though  we  shall  confine  ourselves  in  this  study  to  the  section 
between  Spruce  St.  and  Washington  Ave.  in  which  we  find  all 
the  problems  of  immigration  most  intense. 

Along  the  northern  border  of  this  district,  extending  in  a 
somewhat  irregular  line,  is  the  great  Negro  section  of  the  city. 
The  description  of  it  given  by  Prof.  Du  Bois  ^  is  still  in  the  main 
accurate.  "Starting  at  Seventh  St.  and  walking  along  Lom- 
bard, let  us  glance  at  the  general  character  of  the  ward.  Paus- 
ing a  moment  at  the  corner  of  Seventh  and  Lombard,  we  can 
at  a  glance  view  the  worst  Negro  slums  of  the  city.^  The 
houses  are  mostly  brick,  some  wood,  not  very  old,  and  in  gen- 
eral uncared  for  rather  than  dilapidated.  The  blocks  between 
Eighth  and  Pine,  Sixth  and  South  have  for  many  decades  been 
the  center  of  Negro  population.  Here  the  riots  of  the  thirtys 
took  place,  and  here  once  was  a  depth  of  poverty  and  degrada- 
tion almost  unbelievable.  Even  today  there,  are  many  evi- 
dences of  degradation,  although  the  signs  of  idleness,  shiftless- 
ness,  dissoluteness  and  crime,  are  more  conspicuous  than  those 
of  poverty.  .  .  .  Passing  up  Lombard  to  Eighth,  the  atmos- 

*  Du  Bois,  The  Philadelphia  Negro,  pp.  58-61. 

'  Some  of  the  worst  of  these  have  been  destroyed  for  the  erection  of  Phipps 
Institute. 


32  The  Down-town  Church 

phere  suddenly  changes,  because  these  next  two  blocks  have 
few  alleys  and  the  residences  are  good  sized  and  pleasant.  .  .  . 
North  of  Pine  and  below  Eleventh  there  are  practically  no 
Negro  residences.^  Beyond  Tenth  St.  and  as  far  as  Broad  St. 
the  Negro  population  is  large  and  varied  in  character.  On 
small  streets  ...  is  a  various  mingling  of  respectable  work- 
ing people  and  some  of  the  better  class,  with  recent  immigra- 
tions of  the  semi-criminal  class  from  the  slums." 

As  in  the  district  north  of  Market  St.  one  finds  along  the 
eastern  end  a  narrow  strip  between  the  river  and  Second  St. 
in  which  native  Americans  predominate.  There  are  many 
Polish  people  coming  into  this  strip  now. 

From  Second  St.  to  Sixth  St.  the  population  is  almost  en- 
tirely Jewish,  while  South  St.  all  the  way  to  Broad  St.  and  be- 
yond it,  is  lined  with  Jewish  stores.  In  these  stores  as  in  most 
of  those  conducted  by  the  Jews  in  this  section,  the  proprietor 
and  his  family  live  in  the  rooms  back  of  the  store  on  the  first 
floor  while  the  upper  floors  are  rented  out  as  apartments. 
These  store-front  dwellings  are  therefore  very  profitable. 

From  Sixth  St.  westward,  one  finds  the  Italian  district  of 
the  city,  although  as  is  true  also  of  the  Jews,  they  have  now 
spread  far  beyond  these  limits,  and  especially  to  the  south- 
ward, are  crowding  out  the  native  Americans  very  rapidly. 

There  is  much  over-crowding  in  this  district.  In  1900,  this 
district  was  the  most  crowded  in  the  city,  the  density  of  pop- 
ulation per  square  mile  being,  for  the  second  ward  79,651 ;  for 
the  third  ward  129,282;  and  for  the  fourth  ward  98,524. 

This  congestion  is  the  result  of  the  conversion  of  single 
houses  into  tenements.  House-to-house  inspection  made  by 
the  Octavia  Hill  Association  in  an  Italian  neighborhood  showed 
that  out  of  366  families  visited,  104  families  occupied  only  one 
room  each  where  they  cooked,  ate  and  slept.  Such  congestion 
combined  with  poor  sanitary  conditions  produces  some  ser- 
ious problems  in  this  section. 

Many  students  see  in  the  foreign-speaking  quarters  of  our 
cities  the  greatest  menance  to  our  institutions.  It  is  true 
that  in  these  Ghettoes  and  Little   Italys  and  other  foreign 

*  Except  the  section  referred  to  above  and  they  cannot  properly  be  spbkea 
of  as  residences. 


A  Typical  Down-town  District  33 

colonies  one  hears  English  spoken  only  by  the  children,  but 
these  children  when  they  become  adults  will  be  Americans  and 
not  aliens  and  will  have  forgotten  by  that  time,  most  of  them, 
the  foreign  tongues  of  their  fathers.  It  is  true  too  that  these 
people  of  foreign  speech  are  slow  to  adopt  our  customs  and  that 
they  do  not  understand  or  appreciate  our  institutions.  But 
the  complete  assimilation  of  other  generations  leads  to  the  be- 
lief, that  the  problem  of  the  future  is  by  no  means  so  serious  as 
some  assume.  The  foreign  section  of  the  city  in  fact  does  not 
seem  so  hopeless  as  the  other  down-town  districts;  for  while  in 
the  latter  we  find  those  who  have  been  defeated  in  the  battle 
of  life,  the  discouraged,  the  fagged  out,  in  the  former  we  find 
the  ambitious  and  the  strong.  In  the  furnished-room  and 
lodging-house  district  the  movement  is  generally  centripetal. 
Those  who  get  there  seldom  get  out  but  sink  lower.  While 
in  the  foreign  district  the  movement  is  more  apt  to  be  centrif- 
ugal. Few  are  satisfied  to  stay  there.  All  seek  to  better  their 
economic  condition  sufficiently  to  move  to  a  better  neighbor- 
hood. The  problem  in  the  one  district  therefore  is  to  stimulate 
effort;  in  the  other,  to  direct  effort. 

The  down-town  district  of  every  city  will  be  found  to  con- 
tain these  three  sub-districts,  namely,  the  district  where  busi- 
ness gives  color  to  the  neighborhood;  the  district  where  rented 
rooms,  cheap  lodgings,  and  boarding-houses  characterize  the 
neighborhood;  and  the  foreign  quarter,  where  the  life  of  the 
section  is  exclusive  and  predominantly  un-American. 

In  no  two  cities  will  these  sections  be  found  in  the  same 
proportions.  But  every  city  will  have  its  business  section 
which  has  grown  with  the  growth  of  the  city.  Every  city  will 
have  its  slum  where  the  poorest  of  its  population  will  be  found, 
and  where  the  most  undesirable  elements  of  the  population  will 
congregate.  And  most  American  cities  will  have  their  foreign 
sections.  These  three  districts  may  not  be  contiguous,  although 
they  will  generally  be,  for  the  obvious  reason  that  those  who 
live  in  the  down-town  section  are  always  the  poorest  and  are 
forced  to  live  where  rents  are  cheapest  and  living  conditions 
easiest  to  meet. 

In  the  following  chapter  we  shall  consider  the  activities  and 
efficiency  of  the  churches  in  this  district,  and  while  we  realize 


34  The  Down-town  Church 

that  the  problems  of  individual  churches  are  different,  even  in 
the  same  locality,  yet  the  problems  of  the  churches  in  the  down- 
town district  of  Philadelphia  are  essentially  the  same  as  the 
problems  of  the  down-town  churches  of  New  York,  or  Boston, 
or  Chicago,  and  the  principles  which  we  believe  should  be  ap- 
plied to  the  work  of  the  churches  in  this  district  will  apply 
equally  to  the  down-town  churches  of  other  cities. 


CHAPTER  IV 

The  Down-Town  Churches  of  Philadelphia 

The  changes  which  we  have  been  considering  have  affected 
all  the  social  institutions  of  the  district,  but  none  of  them  more 
deeply  and  more  conspicuously  than  the  religious  institutions. 
Wi  h  the  exception  of  the  Roman  Catholic  churches,  we  find 
that  remarkable  changes  have  taken  place  in  the  number, 
character,  methods  and  influence  of  the  churches  of  the  down- 
town wards. 

The  moving  away  of  the  old  constituency,  and  the  coming 
of  other  social  classes,  have  given  the  Protestant  churches 
problems  to  solve  for  which  they  were  wholly  unprepared,  and 
whose  solution  is  not  yet  by  any  means  apparent. 

In  studying  the  history  and  work  of  the  churches  of  this 
section  during  the  past  thirty  years,  we  can  class  them  in  five 
divisions,  (a),  those  that  have  become  extinct;  (b),  those  that 
have  moved  to  more  favorable  localitites;  (c),  those  that  are 
still  in  the  district,  but  "living  at  a  poor  dying  rate;"  (d), 
those  that  continue  by  reason  of  endowment;  and  (e),  those 
that  by  change  of  method,  or  as  a  result  of  strong  personality, 
or  for  some  other  local  reason,  continue  in  a  more  or  less  vigorous 
state.  By  far  the  largest  number  of  them  will  be  found  under 
class  (b),  namely  those  that  have  moved  to  a  more  favorable 
environment. 

We  shall  consider  the  history,  methods  and  influence  of  the 
various  religious  organizations  that  have  been  at  work  in  this 
district  since  1880,  giving  particular  attention  to  the  Protestant 
agencies. 

The  influence  that  is  exerted  by  a  religious  institution,  or  by 
an  individual  is  so  subtle  that  it  is  difficult  to  estimate  it,  and 
impossible  accurately  to  measure  it. 

The  usefulness  of  a  church  as  a  religious  and  social  force  is 
not  always  in  proportion  to  ts  size.  A  small  church  may  in- 
fluence its  membership  more  profoundly  and  may  thus  be  per- 

35 


36  The  Down-town  Church 

forming  its  function  more  successfully  than  another  church 
that  may  influence  its  membership  very  slightly.  But  in  gen- 
eral, the  success  of  a  church  may  be  determined  by  its  ability 
to  attract,  hold,  and  thus  influence  more  or  less  continuously 
the  people  for  whom  it  ought  to  be  responsible. 

Our  method,  therefore,  in  testing  the  efficiency  of  the 
churches  of  this  district  will  be  to  study  the  statistics  of  mem- 
bership through  a  period  of  years.  It  is  by  this  method  that 
the  churches  test  themselves. 

Church  statistics  are  unreliable  in  many  cases,  and  those 
reported  year  after  year  in  round  numbers  are  valueless,  and 
yet  we  have  no  better  method  of  estimating  church  growth  or 
decline  than  the  official  reports  that  are  made  in  most  cases 
annually,  to  the  governing  boards  by  the  individual  churches. 
Viewed  in  a  long  series  of  thirty  years,  they  may  give  an  ap- 
proximate idea  of  the  success  or  failure  of  their  mission. 


The  Down-town  Churches  of  Philadelphia  37 

I.  The  Baptist  Churches} 

Church  1880      i8qo      igoo      igii  History. 

Spruce  St 284        343        228         ...     In  1908,  moved  to  W.  Phila. 

The  membership  that 
year  was  113. 

Third 255         335         1896,  Moved  to  Broad  and 

Ritner  Sts.     Memb.  204. 

Fourth 762         732         567         537 

Tenth 711         572         1899,    United    with    Spring 

Garden  church,  19th  and 
Master  Sts. 

Broad  Street 428        496        323        200 

Spring  Garden  St.  529         ...  ...  ...      1889,   Moved  to   19th    and 

Master  Sts.  Member- 
ship, 363. 

Mariners 52         ...  ...  ...     Disbanded  in  1883.      Since 

opened  by  the  City  Mis- 
sion Society. 

Calvary 175         187         1897,    United   with   Snyder 

Ave.  church,  7th  and 
Snyder  Avenue. 

Eleventh 305         ...  ...  ...      1886,    Moved   to   21st    and 

Diamond    Sts.       Memb., 

239- 
Total  1880      i8qo      1900      igii 

No.  of  Churches  .9632 
Membership 3501       2665       1118         737 

By  this  table  it  is  seen  that  there  are  now  but  two  of  the  Bap- 
tist churches  in  this  section  of  the  city  that  were  there  thirty 
years  ago.  Six  of  the  nine  have  moved  out  of  the  district, 
while  one  is  conducted  as  a  Seamen's  mission  by  the  City  Mis- 
sion Society. 

Of  the  two  that  remain,  the  Fourth  Baptist  church  presents 
quite  a  unique  record  as  compared  with  most  of  the  churches 
that  survive  in  this  district.  It  is  true,  it  shows  a  gradual  de- 
cline in  membership,  but  the  decline  has  been  very  gradual, 
and  even  now  it  is  a  good  strong  church.  The  stability  of  this 
church  is  to  be  accounted  for,  in  large  part,  by  the  careful  and 
constructive  work  of  the  pastor,  who  has  been  in  charge  of  the 
work  for  over  thirty  years,  and  who  has  maintained  a  high 
standard  of  efficiency  in  all  departments. 

^  The  statistics  of  the  Negro  churches  will  be  given  separately. 


38  The  Down-town  Church 

A  trained  woman  missionary  has  been  employed  for  several 
years,  who  conducts  a  mother's  meeting,  and  industrial  classes 
for  children,  and  who  visits  the  homes  of  the  community. 

The  principal  social  service  activity  of  this  church  is  a  chil- 
dren's service  held  on  Monday  evenings.  The  first  hour  is  de- 
voted to  moral  and  religious  instruction  in  small  graded  groups. 
During  the  second  hour  all  the  grades  are  gathered  in  one  room 
and  enjoy  music  and  moving  pictures. 

This  Monday  Night  Bible  School,  which  is  attended  by  over 
seven  hundred  children  of  the  neighborhood,  is  unique  among 
all  the  Protestant  activities  in  the  city,  in  the  graded  system  of 
week-day  moral  instruction.  The  high  character  of  the  in- 
struction, and  the  skill  with  which  it  is  given,  make  this  the 
most  important  work  for  children  that  is  done  by  the  churches 
in  this  whole  section. 

The  Broad  Street  Baptist  Church,  though  well  located  and 
attractively  furnished,  gets  but  a  feeble  response  from  the  pass- 
ing throngs  and  the  teeming  neighborhood.  In  1905  the  prop- 
erty was  transferred  to  Temple  College — the  congregation  to 
receive  an  annuity  equal  to  the  income  from  an  endowment  of 
$25,000  and  the  assurance  of  a  permanent  church  home  in  the 
new  building  to  be  erected  by  the  college  on  the  present  site. 
It  is  this  arrangement  which  makes  possible  the  continuance 
of  the  work  here. 

In  addition  to  these  two  churches,  the  Baptist  City  Mission 
is  conducting  important  work  among  the  foreign-speaking 
groups. 

In  1900  a  Lettish  congregation  was  organized  in  the  old 
Spruce  Street  church.  It  prospered  from  the  first  and  soon 
became  independent.  Two  years  ago  when  it  transferred  its 
work  to  West  Philadelphia,  it  had  a  membership  of  over  200. 
A  Polish  mission  is  conducted  at  the  Seamen's  mission,  923 
South  Front  Street.  It  was  organized  in  1907  and  has  at 
present  about  forty  members.  There  is  a  mission  to  the 
Chinese  at  1006  Race  St.,  organized  in  1898,  with  a  present 
membership  of  about  forty.  Work  among  the  Slovaks  and 
Russians  is  being  carried  on  with  some  success  at  the  Fourth 
Church. 

Just  beyond  the  limits  of  this  district  are  missions  to  the 


The  Down-town  Churches  of  Philadelphia  39 

Hungarians,  Croatians,  Servians,  Swedes  and  Italians.  Con- 
siderable social  welfare  work  is  done  among  the  last  named  at  a 
settlement  house,  11 62  Passyunk  Avenue. 

The  Superintendent  of  City  Missionary  work  is  optimistic 
as  to  the  success  of  all  these  missions.  He  feels  that  the  church 
has  a  great  opportunity,  and  believes  that  if  more  workers  were 
available  the  church  would  make  great  advances.  To  the  Bap- 
tists belongs  the  credit  of  originating  the  Daily  Vacation  Bible 
Schools  in  Philadelphia.  But  though  there  were  fourteen 
schools  conducted  by  the  Baptists  last  year,  there  was  none  in 
this  most  needy  section. 

The  Baptist  Church  is  taking  the  lead  in  the  work  among 
foreign-speaking  people.  But  its  successes  in  this  field  are  as 
yet  quite  meager,  and  its  influence  in  the  whole  section  is  evi- 
dently very  slight.  All  its  churches  and  missions  combined  do 
not  reach  over  1000  members,  and  probably  at  least  one-half 
of  these  live  outside  the  district. 


40 


The  Down-town  Church 
2.  The  Methodist  Episcopal  Churches. 


Church  1880 

Arch  Street 530 

Central 450 

Ebenezer 504 

Eleventh  Street.  .  240 


1800 
666 


497 


203 


igoo 
464 


249 


1911 
341 


History 


Fifth  Street 400        270 


92 


143 


Green  Street 

.  615 

520 

441 

Mariner's  Bethel. . 

•  751 

850 

632 

Nazareth 

425 

530 

456 

299 


. . .     1887,  United  with  Nazareth, 

to  form  the  13th  St.  M.  E. 

Church. 
. . .     1903,   Moved  to  W.   Phila. 

Membership    that    year, 

120. 
. . .     Statistics      included      with 

those  of  St.  Paul's  whose 

pastor    has    oversight    of 

both. 
64     Since  1898,  under  the  care 

of  the  City  Miss,  and  Ch. 

Ext.  Soc. 
235 

320 

342  Since  1887,  the  13th  St. 
Church  (See  Central 
Church,  above). 
1896,  Consolidated  with 
Covenant  Church,  i8th 
and  Spruce  Sts. 


Salem 440 

St.  George's 275 

St.  Paul's 573 

Trinity 223 

Twelfth  Street...    478 

Union 227 

Total  1880 

Churches 14 


Membership 6131       5079      3446       1719 

The  Methodist  Church  has  held  its  own  in  the  down-town 
wards   much   better   than   most   denominations,    and    yet   its 


315 

262 

102 

529 

397 

90 

Since  1904,  under  the  care 
of  City  Mission  and  Ch. 
Ext.  Soc. 

... 

1883,  Moved  to  15th  and 
Mt.   Vernon  Streets. 

400 

310 

225 

... 

... 

... 

1888,  Moved  to  20th  and 
Diamond   Streets. 

1890 

1900 

1 91 1 

II 

10 

8 

The  Down-town  Churches  of  Philadelphia  41 

strength  is  today  less  than  one-third  what  it  was  thirty  years 
ago.  Four  congregations  moved  to  better  localities;  two  were 
consolidated ;  three  were  taken  under  the  care  of  the  City  Mis- 
sion and  Church  Extension  Society;  while  five  continue,  but 
with  diminished  membership. 

The  Methodist  Church  has  always  been  successful  in  pioneer 
work.  Its  fervor,  its  stirring  music,  and  emotional  preaching, 
and  its  free  and  friendly  spirit,  have  always  elicited  a  response 
from  those  whose  lot  in  life  was  hard  and  monotonous,  and 
whose  natures  craved  excitement.  It  is  the  most  democratic 
of  the  Protestant  churches.  This  may  account  for  the  hold 
which  it  has  maintained  in  this  most  democratic  of  city  neigh- 
borhoods. 

The  Arch  Street  Church  is  considered  the  most  important  in 
the  conference.  It  occupies  a  valuable  site  within  one  block 
of  city  hall.  It  aims  to  reach  through  good  preaching  and  good 
music  the  large  student  and  boarding-house  population ,  that 
lives  nearby,  but  as  a  neighborhood  force  its  influence  is  negli- 
gible. 

The  Thirteenth  Street  Church  is  located  in  the  "tenderloin" 
district.  With  the  exception  of  the  children  who  attend  the 
Sunday-school,  there  is  little  response  from  the  neighborhood 
to  the  appeals  of  the  church.  The  pastor  describes  the  church 
as  "evangelistic  365  days  in  the  year."  At  a  recent  series  of 
revival  meetings,  seven  persons  from  the  neighborhood  were 
received  into  the  church.  Most  of  the  members  live  outside 
the  district. 

The  Twelfth  Street  Church,  employing  the  usual  methods  of 
preaching  and  evangelism,  is  a  diminishing  force  in  neighbor- 
hood uplift.     It  has  steadily  declined  in  membership. 

The  Fifth  Street  Church,  or  "Temple"  as  it  is  now  called,  was 
taken  over  by  the  City  Mission  and  Church  Extension  Society 
a  few  years  ago.  Its  large  auditorium  which  had  been  closed 
for  over  four  years,  was  renovated  and  re-opened.  A  large 
Germantown  church  guaranteed  the  salary  of  the  pastor  for 
three  years,  and  other  suburban  churches  volunteered  co-oper- 
ation in  various  ways.  It  is  as  good  an  example  as  is  to  be 
found  in  this  section  of  that  co-operation  between  the  up-town 
and  down-town  churches,  which  must  become  more  general  if 


42  The  Down-town  Church 

the  struggling  churches  of  the  poorer  districts  are  to  survive. 

In  addition  to  concerts  and  entertainments,  this  church  is 
specializing  in  educational  work  for  young  people,  having  classes 
in  shorthand,  typewriting,  telegraphy,  dress-making,  and  em- 
broidery.    There  are  also  a  boy's  club  and  a  mother's  meeting. 

This  church  is  feeling  the  stimulation  of  two  other  churches 
nearby,  that  have  recently  become  active  in  neighborhood  work. 
A  settlement  worker,  familiar  with  the  conditions  in  this  sec- 
tion, feels  that  there  is  danger  of  the  children  becoming  de- 
moralized as  a  result  of  the  competition  of  the  churches.  It  is 
unfortunate  that  there  is  not  some  division  of  labor  or  terri- 
tory. 

The  Green  Street  Church  has  an  evening  audience  of  from  loo 
to  150,  with  not  a  few  from  the  neighborhood.  The  church  is 
using  the  traditional  methods.  By  frequent  house-to-house 
canvasses,  it  seeks  to  attach  the  non-churched  Protestants  of 
the  neighborhood,  of  whom  there  are  still  many.  The  pastor 
believes  that  with  more  work  and  more  workers,  they  can  be 
successfully  reached.  He  is  very  hopeful  as  to  the  future  of 
his  church. 

Mariner's  Bethel,  though  in  the  heart  of  the  Jewish  section, 
is  still  a  strong  church.  Not  more  than  a  third  of  the  member- 
ship, however,  lives  near  the  church.  The  workers  and  those 
who  support  it  come,  for  the  most  part,  from  a  distance,  attach- 
ment to  the  old  church  still  being  remarkably  strong.  Only 
the  old  time  methods  are  used,  but  the  pastor  believes  that  in- 
stitutional work  could  be  carried  on  successfully,  and  that  it 
would  strengthen  the  church  as  well  as  make  it  more  useful. 

St.  George's  Church  is  "the  oldest  Methodist  church  edifice 
used  continuously  for  worship  in  the  world."  It  is  spoken  of 
by  the  Methodists  affectionately  as  "our  ancestral  home,"  and 
an  effort  is  now  being  made  throughout  the  denomination  to 
raise  an  endowment  that  will  insure  its  existence.  Many  of  its 
members  live  at  a  distance  from  it,  but  cling  to  it  for  sentimental 
reasons.  Its  ministries  to  the  neighborhood  are  largely  of  an 
eleemosynary  character. 

St.  Paul's,  in  the  heart  of  the  Italian  quarter,  gave  up  the 
struggle  several  years  ago,  and  the  property  was  given  over  to 
the  City  Mission  Society.     Under  efficient  leadership,  many 


The  Down-town  Churches  of  Philadelphia  43 

helpful  activities  are  being  carried  on.  Among  the  most  im- 
portant is  a  kindergarten,  which  has  an  enrollment  of  seventy- 
children,  most  of  whom  are  Italians.  The  teachers  are  from  a 
kindergarten  training  school  and  a  high  standard  is  maintained. 
"The  teaching  does  not  include  religion,  but  incidentally,  it 
does  relate  the  children  and  their  parents  to  the  church."  Once 
a  month,  the  mothers  are  invited  to  an  entertainment  and  help- 
ful talk  in  the  church,  and  constant  touch  is  maintained  with 
their  homes  by  the  church  visitors. 

A  picture  entertainment  is  given  once  a  week,  which  is  largely 
attended  by  the  children  of  the  neighborhood.  There  are  also 
classes  in  millinery,  dress-making,  embroidery,  music,  brass- 
piercing,  and  sketching.  During  the  summer  a  Daily  Vaca- 
tion Bible  School  is  held  here.  Last  summer  over  five  hundred 
Italian  children  attended  weekly. 

Two  Italian  workers  are  stationed  here  who  devote  all  their 
time  to  holding  services  in  Italian,  conducting  classes  in  English, 
and  visitation  of  the  homes  of  the  neighborhood.  The  English 
class  had  an  enrollment  of  187  last  year.  The  Methodists  have 
not  had  the  success,  however,  that  some  of  the  other  denomina- 
tions have  had  among  the  Italians.  This  is  to  be  accounted 
for,  largely,  by  the  meagerness  of  the  equipment. 

The  Eleventh  Street  Church  is  devoting  itself  almost 
exclusively  to  the  Syrian  population  surrounding  it.  The 
church  is  open  every  evening  and  is  becoming  in  a  very  real 
sense  the  social  center  for  the  neighborhood.  Every  evening 
many  young  people  and  children  are  to  be  found  there,  reading, 
studying  or  playing  games. 

There  are  classes  in  English  and  other  elementary  subjects, 
dressmaking,  and  cooking;  also  a  kindergarten  and  a  boy's  club. 
The  Sunday-school  has  an  enrollment  of  150,  and  an  average 
attendance  of  75. 

This  church,  though  without  adequate  financial  support  and 
equipment,  in  a  neighborhood  peculiarly  isolated  from  up- 
lifting agencies,  is  making  a  commendable  effort  to  minister  to 
community  needs. 

In  addition  to  the  work  of  these  established  church  centers, 
neighborhood  work  of  a  religious  character  is  being  carried  on 
at  the  Deaconess'  House  on  Franklin  Square,  and  also  at  the 


44  The  Down-town  Church 

corner  of  Front  and  Bainbridge  Streets  in  a  Polish  community. 
At  the  latter,  there  is  a  sunday-school  enrollment  of  1 80,  a  sew- 
ing class  of  80,  a  kindergarten  of  50,  and  other  clubs  and  classes. 
It  is  from  both  a  social  and  religious  standpoint  a  very  success- 
ful work.  The  Eighth  Street  Rescue  Mission  is  also  under  the 
direction  of  the  City  Mission  and  Church  Extension  Society. 
It  reports  728  conversions  last  year,  and  a  total  attendance  of 
26,151.  We  shall  consider  the  work  and  try  to  estimate  the 
value  of  missions  of  this  type  under  another  section  of  this 
chapter. 

The  Methodist  Church  was  for  many  years  perplexed  as  she 
saw  her  constituency  moving  away,  and  realized  the  compara- 
tive impotency  of  the  old-time  methods.  But  now  with  charac- 
teristic energy,  and  true  to  her  traditions,  she  is  planning  to 
strengthen  existing  centers  and  re-adapt  herself  to  the  new  con- 
ditions. She  is,  however,  sadly  handicapped  by  lack  of  funds, 
and  all  the  churches  impress  one  as  poorly  equipped  to  grapple 
adequately  with  the  situation. 


The  Down-town  Churches  of  Philadelphia 


45 


J. 

Church  1880 

Clinton  St. — Im-    150 
manuel 

South  Street 182 

Third 547 

Union 350 

Southwark 265 

Tabernacle 350 

Chambers 926 

Tenth 712 

Mariners 250 

First 535 

Fourth 230 

North  Broad  St. . .  709 

North 414 

Spring  Garden . . .  402 
Scots 30 


Northern  Liber-      350 
ties. 


The  Presbyterian  Churches. 

j8go      igoo      igii  History. 

140  63         ...      1903,   Dissolved.      Proceeds 

of  property  funded.  In- 
come used  for  church 
erection  in  Presbytery. 
...  1882,  moved  to  Broad  and 
Wharton  Sts.  Member- 
ship, 100. 


430        400 
150 
72 


742 


339 


Moved  to  West  Philadel- 
phia. 

1892,  Dissolved.  Proceeds 
of  property  funded  with 
Third  Church  for  neigh- 
borhood work. 

1884,  moved  to  W.  Phila- 
delphia. 

1898,  United  with  Wylie 
Memorial  to  form  Cham- 
bers-Wylie  Memorial. 


296 

... 

... 

1895,  United  with  W.  Spruce 
St.  Church. 

104 

136 

77 

523 

768 

544 

201 

... 

... 

1891,  moved  to  W.  Phila. 

741 

742 

696 

1908,  Central  Church  con- 
solidated with  it.  Now, 
Central-North  Broad  St. 
Church. 

414 

.  .  . 

•  •  • 

1900,  moved  to  Broad  and 
Alleghany  Ave.  Member- 
ship, 120. 

150 

.  .  . 

. . . 

1892,  united  with  Columbia 
Ave.  Church  to  form 
McDowell    Memorial. 

.  .  . 

.  .  . 

. . . 

1884,  united  with  South 
Broad  St.  Church,  Broad 
and  Castle  Av. 

457 


208 


89 


46 


The  Down-town  Church 


Church  1880      1890      IQOO      1911  History 

Arch  Street 309        438         1898,     united     with     West 

Arch  St.  Church. 

Carmel  (German)      44  60         1892,   moved   to    19th   and 

Susquehanna  Ave. 
Wylie  Memorial. .   500*      497        633        660     1898,  Chambers  Ch.  united 

with  it. 

Eighth 375         1883,    moved    to    15th   and 

(United  Presb.)  Christian  Streets. 

Reformed  Presb ...  ...  ...     Became  extinct.      No  stat. 

(Orig.)  available. 

Total  j88o      i8go      igoo      iqii 

Churches 21  16  7  6 

Membership 7630      5415      2950      2405 

The  Presbyterian  churches  show  the  effects  of  the  changed 
conditions  of  the  down-town  districts  most  strikingly.  Three 
of  those  that  were  at  work  in  this  district  in  1880  dwindled  to 
nothing.  No  less  than  eleven,  more  than  half,  moved  to  better 
neighborhoods.  Two  consolidated  their  forces.  One  increased 
by  the  uniting  with  it  of  a  church,  just  over  the  line  bounding 
the  district.  Four  of  those  that  remain  are  well-endowed. 
One  is  a  seamen's  mission,  while  the  other  has  been  "snatched 
as  a  brand  from  the  burning"  by  most  heroic  measures. 

The  First  Church  has  a  well-appointed  parish  house,  for 
neighborhood  work.  Until  a  few  years  ago  this  work  was  well- 
supported,  and  the  church  constantly  increased  in  member- 
ship in  spite  of  the  changes  going  on  about  it.  But  for  some 
years  the  work  has  been  discontinued  for  lack  of  means. 

At  present,  gymnastic  classes  are  held  and  a  reading-room 
for  men  is  open.  No  effort  is  being  made  to  interest  the  poorer 
classes  east  and  south  of  the  church,  as  it  is  felt  their  presence 
might  alienate  the  present  constituency.  This  church  makes 
a  special  effort  by  means  of  good  music,  to  attract  the  board- 
ing-house and  student  population,  residing  just  west  of  the 
church. 

The  endowment  has  recently  been  very  much  increased. 
With  the  well-equipped  parish  house,  this  should  make  pos- 
sible a  much  larger  service  to  the  community  than  is  now  ren- 
dered. 

^  Until  1886,  a  Ref'd.  Presb.  Church.  No  statistics  available.  Memb. 
estimated. 


The  Down-town  Churches  of  Philadelphia  47 

The  Third  Church  has  an  endowment  of  $120,000,  the  in- 
come of  which  is  used  to  support  a  deaconess,  and  for  poor  re- 
lief in  the  neighborhood.^  The  membership  comes  largely 
from  outside  the  district,  which  is  now  predominantly  Jewish. 
A  sunday-school  and  industrial  classes  for  Jewish  children,  have 
recently  been  organized.  But  the  response  as  yet  is  quite 
small.  The  conservatism  of  the  church  will  probably  make 
progress  slow  and  uncertain. 

The  Chambers- Wylie  Memorial  Church  has  an  endowment 
of  over  $200,000,  but  is  doing  little  or  nothing  in  the  way  of 
community  service.  Its  efforts  are  mainly  directed  by  good 
preaching  and  music,  to  attracting  the  people  who  live  in  the 
apartment  houses  nearby,  and  the  transients  from  the  hotels. 

The  Central-North  Broad  Street  Church  has  a  splendid  lo- 
cation on  the  edge  of  the  furnished-room  and  boarding-house 
district.  Plans  are  under  way  for  building  a  parish  house  where 
neighborhood  work  will  be  carried  on.  An  assistant  to  the 
pastor  has  been  employed  who  will  devote  his  whole  time  to 
the  work  of  the  church  in  the  community.  An  endowment 
of  $200,000  will  insure  the  continuance  of  a  large  work.  Lec- 
tures on  problems  of  interest  and  value  to  the  people  of  the 
neighborhood  are  being  given  on  Sunday  afternoons.  Enter- 
tainments and  industrial  classes,  and  boy's  brigade  drills  are 
held  during  the  week.  But  here  also,  the  conservatism  of  the 
original  congregation  will  make  an  aggressive  social  service 
policy  difficult. 

The  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  the  Northern  Liberties  is 
under  a  Committee  of  Presbytery.  The  work  of  this  church  is 
the  most  spectacular  and  best  advertised  of  any  that  is  being 
done  in  this  whole  down-town  district.  The  pastor,  a  recent 
graduate  of  Princeton,  with  an  experience  in  rescue  mission 
work  in  Chicago,  has  entered  upon  the  work  with  unbounded 
enthusiasm  and  tireless  energy.  He  believes  that  the  solution 
of  the  problem  of  the  church  is  to  get  people  to  hear  the  gospel. 
Accordingly,  aggressive  evangelism  characterizes  all  the  ac- 
tivities of  the  church,  even  the  children's  entertainments. 
Services  are  held  in  English  and  Yiddish,  both  in  the  church, 
and  on  the  street  corners. 


^  See  history  of  Southwark  Church,  in  statistical  table,  above. 


48  The  Down-town  Church 

Twice  a  week,  an  evangelistic  service  is  held,  which  has 
proven  especially  attractive  to  men  from  the  lodging-houses  a 
few  blocks  away,  for  a  free  lunch  is  served  at  the  conclusion  of 
the  service. 

It  is  a  center  of  bustling  activity,  a  church  run  under  high 
pressure.  The  congregations  have  steadily  grown,  and  the 
pastor  confidently  predicts  that  before  many  months,  the 
church  will  be  full  and  overflowing,  and  that  the  neighborhood 
will  be  noticeably  improved. 

It  is  unlikely,  however,  that  the  older  Jews  of  the  neighbor- 
hood who  resent  the  active  and  aggressive  proselytism  of  the 
church,  will  be  influenced  for  good.  Experience  shows  that 
such  methods  perpetuate  and  strengthen  the  prejudice  and 
antagonism  which  Jews  have  toward  Christians.  It  is  to  them 
a  form  of  persecution,  to  which  they  have  too  long  been  sub- 
jected. Many  Jewish  children  however  attend  the  meetings 
of  the  church  and  the  prediction  of  the  pastor  that  many  of 
them  will  become  Christians  may  be  realized. 

It  is  doubtful,  too,  whether  the  self-respecting  working- 
class  people  of  the  neighborhood  will  go  to  a  church  where  home- 
less men  go  to  be  fed.^  The  class  that  this  church  appeals  to 
most  strongly  frequents  the  cheap  lodging-houses  not  many 
blocks  away.  The  galleries  are  filled  with  them  on  Sunday 
evenings,  and  the  strong  evangelistic  appeal  is  directed  to  them. 
Not  a  few  of  them  have  professed  conversion,  and  in  order  to 
conserve  results,  a  house  has  been  opened  nearby  where  they 
are  kept  in  a  wholesome  environment,  aided  in  securing  em- 
ployment, and  stimulated  to  better  living.  This  "neighbor- 
hood house"  is  one  of  the  best  features  of  the  work  of  this 
church. 

It  is  too  early  to  estimate  the  social  value  of  this  church  to 
its  community,  but  it  is  our  feeling  that  the  work  is  carried  on 
under  too  much  excitement  and  with  too  much  promise  of 
reward,  to  be  permanently  helpful  to  the  neighborhood.  As  a 
rescue  mission,  it  will  reach  an  occasional  man  and  restore  him 
to  respectability  and  usefulness  in  society;  but  as  a  neighbor- 
hood center  for  social  uplift,  its  success  will  depend  more  upon 

»  Ruggles  St.  Baptist  Church,  Boston,  found  they  would  not. 


The  Down-town  Churches  of  Philadelphia  49 

the  personal  influence  of  the  workers  than  the  activities  and 
services  of  the  church. 

The  work  for  seamen  at  Mariner's  Bethel  is  a  most  helpful 
one.  Here  sailors  receive  their  mail,  and  have  the  free  use  of  a 
pleasant  reading  and  game  room.  Free  legal  advice  is  given, 
and  everything  is  done  to  make  the  seamen's  stay  on  land  a 
safe  and  profitable  one.  A  small  number  of  people  from  the 
neighborhood  attend  religious  services  here. 

We  shall  speak  of  the  mission  work  among  the  Italian  and 
other  foreign  groups  under  the  section,  Missions.  The  most 
characteristic  work  of  the  Presbyterian  denomination  is  the 
summer  tent  work,  which  has  been  widely  copied  in  other  cities. 
This  too,  will  be  considered  later. 

The  Presbyterian  churches  occupy  strategic  points  in  this 
great  down-town  district,  but  as  yet  they  have  not  measured 
up  to  their  opportunities,  or  made  adequate  use  of  their  large 
resources.  The  large  endowments  of  some  of  these  churches, 
combined  with  the  large  resources  in  the  suburban  churches, 
will  make  possible  a  very  useful  service  when  once  they  get  a 
social  vision. 


50 


The  Down-town  Church 
4.  The  Protestant  Episcopal  Churches 


Church  1880      1890      1900 

All  Saints 425        505        400 


320        315 


Calvary 36 

Advent * 

Ascension 35 

Evangelists 150 

Christ  Church  ...  378 

Nativity 152 

Gloria  Dei ' 

Grace 514 

St.  Andrews 600 

St.  John's,  N.  L.  .   no 

St.  Jude 271 

St.  Luke 650 

St.  Paul 208 

St.  Peter's 700 

St.  Philip 400 

St.  Stephen 500 

Trinity 194 

(Southwark) 

Total  1880 

Churches 18 

Membership 5323 

*  Statistics  not  given. 

*  Statistics  not  given  prior  to  1893. 


270 

309 

145 

344 

565 

487 

702 

507 

640 

s 

325 

335 

496 

650 

... 

675 

747 

226 

129 

189 

414 

366 

335 

... 

620 

700 

1205 

90 


697      894     1033 


J911  History. 

1909,   United   with   Church 

of  the  Holy  Spirit,   nth 

and  Snyder  Av. 
. . .     1882,  Moved  to  West  Phila. 


85 


1885,  Moved  to  Broad  and 
Lombard  Streets. 
145     191 1,  no  report.     Member- 
ship, 1910. 


640    Since    1908,    known   as   St. 
Jude  and  Nativity. 


19 10,   Transferred   work  to 
West  Philadelphia. 


1908,  united  with  Church  of 

Nativity. 

1899,     Epiphany     united 

with  it,  to  form  St.  Luke 

and  Epiphany. 
1890-1902,  a  mission  of  St. 

James's,      1902,     incorp. 

with  St.  Peter's. 


...  1890,  Moved  to  West 
Philadelphia. 

1000 

900 

649 

225 

331 

. . .  1908,  Moved  to  1 6th  and 
Cayuga  Streets. 

1890 

1900 

1911 

15 

14 

10 

6439 

7167 

5219 

The  Down-town  Churches  of  Philadelphia  51 

The  Episcopal  churches  present  rather  a  striking  contrast  to 
the  other  Protestant  churches  of  this  district,  in  that  a  much 
larger  per  cent,  of  them  continue  at  their  original  locations, 
and  also  in  that  the  reported  membership  today  is  almost  as 
great  as  that  of  1880,  although  not  as  great  as  that  of  the  two 
intervening  decades.  The  churches  that  have  continued  in  the 
district  all  show  increased  membership  with  three  exceptions, 
and  in  one  of  these  the  statistics  indicate  that  the  church  is 
holding  its  own. 

The  remarkable  stability  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  churches 
in  this  section  may  be  accounted  for  by  several  things.  First, 
the  fact  that  nearly  all  the  churches  are  endowed.  The  ten 
churches  that  are  found  in  this  district  have  an  endowment 
totalling  almost  a  million  and  a  half  dollars.  Thus  the  Epis- 
copal Church  has  practically  established  its  work  in  the  down- 
town district,  by  providing  an  average  endowment  for  each  of 
its  centres  of  $150,000.  It  is  rather  significant,  that  the  six 
churches  that  moved  out  of  the  district,  during  the  past  thirty 
years,  had  practically  no  endowment  with  one  exception. 

But  endowments  alone  do  not  account  for  the  good  showing 
of  the  Episcopal  churches  in  this  section.  For  some  of  the 
churches  have  not  only  maintained  their  existence,  but  increased 
remarkably  in  membership.  The  readiness  with  which  the 
Episcopal  churches  have  adapted  themselves  to  the  changed 
conditions,  and  the  efforts  they  have  made  to  meet  the  social 
needs  as  well  as  the  spiritual  needs  of  the  community,  have 
also  contributed  in  a  large  measure  to  their  success.  This 
larger  service  has  been  made  possible  by  the  income  from  en- 
dowment, but  credit  should  also  be  given  to  them  for  their 
progressive  spirit  and  social  vision,  in  seeing  the  needs  of  their 
communities  and  making  provision  for  supplying  them. 

Nearly  every  Episcopal  church  in  this  section  is  an  institu- 
tional church  of  greater  or  less  equipment,  activity,  and  effici- 
ency. Nearly  all  have  parish  houses,  some  of  them  well- 
equipped,  and  all  of  them  are  open  as  neighborhood  centers. 
Every  church  has  activities  of  a  social  nature,  and  the  lives  of 
the  people  are  touched  and  influenced  in  helpful  ways  between 
Sundays.  The  Episcopal  churches  are  more  efficient  in  ren- 
dering community  service  than  those  of  any  other  denomina- 
tion. 


52  The  Down-town  Church 

Sentiment  has  played  a  part  too,  in  maintaining  the  older 
and  stronger  of  these  churches.  Christ  Church  and  Old  St. 
Peter's,  for  instance,  count  among  their  members  and  support- 
ers old  Philadelphia  families  who  long  ago  moved  out  of  these 
parishes  but  who  yet  own  family  pews  in  which  they  take  great 
pride.  The  morning  service  at  St.  Peter's  is  attended  largely 
by  the  wealthy  members,  few  of  whom  live  anywhere  near  the 
church.  The  evening  audiences  in  all  these  churches  are  of 
quite  a  different  class  from  the  morning  audiences.  We  have 
noticed  the  influence  of  sentiment  in  churches  of  other  denom- 
nations  too,  but  in  none  of  them  does  it  seem  to  play  as  large  a 
part  as  in  the  Episcopal  churches. 

Another  reason  for  the  success  of  these  churches  is  to  be 
found  in  the  personnel  of  their  clergy.  Men  of  superior  ability 
have  been  attracted  to  these  influential  churches,  and  with 
adequate  means  behind  them  have  wrought  masterfully  for 
the  uplifting  of  their  neighborhoods.  Thus  money  is  seen  to  be 
a  very  essential  element  of  success  in  church  work  in  this  section. 
Not  that  money  has  been  used  to  purchase  the  patronage  of 
the  people,  though  in  some  cases  the  churches  have  been  un- 
necessarily lavish  and  almost  demoralizing  in  the  generous 
use  of  their  means,  but  money  has  made  it  possible  adequately 
to  equip  and  maintain  strong  centers  of  social  and  religious  in- 
fluence, and  to  carry  on  many  activities  of  a  helpful  nature 
which  otherwise  would  have  been  impossible. 

It  will  not  be  possible  or  necessary  to  describe  in  detail  all 
the  activities  of  these  churches,  but  we  shall  indicate  briefly 
the  salient  features  of  their  work. 

Old  Christ  Church  possesses  great  historic  interest.  "As  a 
fount  of  both  patriotism  and  religion,  it  attracts  annually  more 
than  thirty  thousand  pilgrims  from  all  points  of  the  compass." 
The  old  church  is  now  surrounded  by  business  buildings,  but 
in  the  small  streets  and  courts  that  abound  in  this  section, 
there  is  still  a  large  population.  The  population  of  the  ward 
at  the  last  census  was  6,374.  The  rector  says,  "it  is  a  field 
ripe  for  the  harvest. "  A  new  parish  house  is  in  process  of  con- 
struction which  will  make  possible  an  active  neighborhood  work. 
At  present,  parish  activities  have  been  discontinued  for  lack  of 
suitable  accommodations. 


The  Down-town  Churches  of  Philadelphia  53 

The  Church  of  the  Advent  with  an  endowment  of  $32,750 
still  survives,  but  the  membership  has  declined  and  the  services 
are  poorly  attended.  The  rector  proclaims  himself  a  socialist. 
He  inaugurated  at  one  time  a  number  of  welfare  institutions, 
co-operative  factory  and  store,  and  a  house  for  respectable 
working  girls.  But  for  lack  of  means  and  good  management, 
they  failed.  He  is  earnest  in  his  desire  to  help  the  people  of  the 
neighborhood,  but  the  response  is  not  encouraging.  There  is 
some  hope  of  merging  this  church  with  another  of  the  same  de- 
nomination in  the  same  district.  It  would  be  a  very  desirable 
consummation. 

The  Church  of  the  Evangelist  has  a  beautiful  little  chapel, 
which  enjoys  the  distinction  of  a  reference  in  Baedeker.  It  is 
however  a  factor  of  small  importance  as  a  center  of  community 
service.  The  church  has  been  closed  for  over  a  year  owing  to 
financial  difficulties,  but  has  recently  reopened  with  a  new 
rector  in  charge.  St.  Martin's  College,  a  home  and  school  for 
dependent  boys^  is  supported  by  the  parish. 

The  Church  of  St.  Jude  and  the  Nativity  has  recently  re- 
modeled its  church  and  erected  a  well-equipped  parish  building. 
It  is  a  church  of  many  helpful  activities,  a  bright  attractive 
service,  and  good  singing.  It  is  receiving  as  generous  a  response 
from  the  neighborhood  as  any  church  in  this  whole  section  east 
of  Broad  Street.  Elaborate  facilities  are  provided  here  for 
recreation — bowling  alleys,  game  rooms,  and  gymnastic  classes 
for  both  men  and  women.  There  are  also  classes  in  literature 
and  the  fine  arts  that  are  largely  attended  by  young  women. 
This  church  is  situated  in  a  neighborhood  characterized  by 
middle  class  boarding  and  furnished  room  houses.  There  are 
many  young  men  and  women  away  from  the  restraints  of  home 
and  family  life,  who  are  particularly  in  need  of  opportunities 
of  social  and  educational  advantages.  This  church  has  ad- 
mirably adapted  its  equipment,  and  its  methods,  to  this  class. 
It  is  a  genuine  force  for  community  uplift. 

Gloria  Dei  has  been  an  active  force,  but  at  present  the  rec- 
tor, who  has  been  in  charge  for  many  years,  says,  "it  is  impos- 
sible to  reach  the  present  population,  which  is  Jewish,  Polish, 
and  Irish  Roman  Catholic,  with  anything."  This  church  has 
a  large  endowment.     It  employs  besides  the  rector,  a  lay  as- 


54  The  Down-town  Church 

sistant  and  a  lady  visitor.  It  has  a  sunday  school  of  over  three 
hundred.  Many  strangers  are  attracted  to  the  church  be- 
cause of  its  historic  interest. 

St.  Andrew's  Church,  though  at  one  time  a  large  fashionable 
church,  some  years  ago  dwindled  to  almost  nothing.  But 
through  the  energy  of  a  new  rector,  new  spirit  and  hope  were 
infused  into  the  church.  The  attitude  of  the  minister  and 
people  is  now  very  hopeful. 

St.  John's  Church  of  the  Northern  Liberties  is  in  a  com- 
munity where  Poles  and  Jews  predominate.  But  notwith- 
standing its  adverse  environment,  it  has  had  a  steady  growth 
during  the  past  thirty  years.  This  may  be  accounted  for 
almost  entirely  by  the  constructive  and  intelligent  efforts  of 
its  rectors,  who  in  that  time  have  raised  the  endowment, 
built  a  parish  house,  and  carried  on  many  helpful  activities  in 
behalf  of  the  neighborhood.  The  present  rector  lays  em- 
phasis on  good  preaching  as  one  of  the  essentials  in  church  work 
in  such  districts.  He  is  enthusiastic  about  the  future  of  the 
church.  He  is  very  liberal  in  his  ideas  of  the  mission  of  the 
church,  and  allows  the  people  of  the  neighborhood  much  lati- 
tude in  the  use  of  the  parish  house. 

St.  Luke's  and  Epiphany  Church  has  an  attractive  building, 
both  interior  and  exterior.  It  has  a  brilliant  man  for  its  rec- 
tor. It  has  splendid  music.  It  has  an  endowment  of  half  a 
million  dollars,  and  it  carries  on  many  activities  of  a  useful 
nature.  It  is  not  surprising,  therefore,  that  it  is  a  growing 
church,  well-patronized,  and  performing  a  useful  part  in  the 
community.  Besides  its  sunday-school,  which  has  a  mem- 
bership of  nearly  four  hundred,  there  are  a  men's  club,  a  moth- 
er's meeting,  a  gymnasium,  a  young  ladies  guild,  a  sewing  school, 
a  flower,  fruit  and  ice  mission,  coal  fund  and  other  organiza- 
tions for  thrift,  culture  or  recreation.  Epiphany  Chapel  at 
17th  and  Summer  Streets  is  also  under  the  control  of  the  officials 
of  this  church. 

St.  Peter's  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  churches  of  this 
whole  section,  in  that  three-fourths  of  its  membership,  which 
is  one  of  the  largest  in  the  down-town  district,  lives  east  of 
Broad  St.  This  church  stands  in  the  midst  of  the  large  Jewish 
district,  but  so  carefully  has  it  worked  its  field,  and  so  per- 


The  Down-town  Churches  of  Philadelphia  55 

vasive  has  been  its  influence,  that  it  has  seven  hundred  mem- 
bers in  that  section  from  which  many  other  churches  have  been 
forced  to  move,  and  in  which  most  of  those  still  remaining  are 
decadent  and  despondent.  It  has  a  large  endowment,  about 
$275,000,  which  makes  possible  a  large  work.  In  addition 
to  the  regular  services  at  the  church,  religious  services  and 
many  helpful  ministries  are  conducted  at  St.  Peter's  House, 
a  Christian  settlement  at  the  corner  of  Front  and  Pine  Sts. 
The  parish  hall  on  Lombard  St.  is  also  a  center  of  educational, 
recreational,  and  inspirational  effort.  The  choir  school  cares 
for  a  number  of  boys,  educating  them  and  providing  for  them, 
but  the  boys  of  this  school  are  largely  from  outside  the  dis- 
trict. In  addition  to  the  rector  there  are  two  assistants,  and 
a  large  force  of  volunteer  workers. 

Old  St.  Peter's  has  an  affectionate  hold  upon  all  who  have 
come  under  its  influence.  Its  wealthy  members  have  moved 
out  of  the  parish,  but  continue  their  relation  with  it.  They 
attend  the  morning  service  in  large  numbers.  The  evening 
audience  often  fills  the  church  and  is  largely  drawn  from  the 
neighborhood.  It  presents  a  striking  contrast  to  every  other 
church  in  this  section.  It  is  one  of  the  most  useful  institu- 
tions in  down-town  Philadelphia. 

St.  Stephen's  Church  is  another  church  which  proves  the 
value  of  large  means,  intelligent  men  and  wise  methods  in 
church  work.  It  is  a  church  with  many  wealthy  members, 
but  neighborhood  needs  are  not  forgotten.  A  large  parish 
house  is  maintained  in  which  there  is  a  gymnasium,  and  where 
classes  and  clubs  of  many  purposes  and  social  groups  meet. 
The  parish  employs  besides  the  rector,  an  assistant  and  a  parish 
visitor.  In  a  quiet  unobtrusive  way,  St.  Stephen's  is  touch- 
ing helpfully  a  large  group,  in  a  section  from  which  other  Prot- 
estant churches  have  almost  all  moved. 

The  success  of  these  Episcopal  churches  does  not  depend 
upon  high  church  or  low  church  or  broad  church  methods.  St. 
Peter's  is  high  church,  but  St.  Stephen's,  St.  Luke's  and  the 
Epiphany,  and  St.  Jude's  and  the  Nativity,  which  are  also 
exerting  a  remarkable  influence  in  their  respective  parishes, 
are  low  church.  The  services  of  these  last  named  churches, 
in  fact,  do  not  differ  materially  from  the  services  in  other 


56  The  Down-town  Church 

Protestant  churches.  It  is  clear  that  it  is  not  the  form  of  wor- 
ship which  makes  the  difference,  in  all  the  churches  of  the  down- 
town district,  but  the  spirit.  In  the  concluding  chapter,  we 
shall  draw  some  deductions  from  the  success  of  these  Episcopal 
churches  for  the  successful  management  and  equipment  of 
other  down-town  churches. 

In  addition  to  these  regularly  established  parishes,  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  this  district  has  a  splendidly 
equipped  rescue  mission  hall,  an  active  work  among  the  Italians, 
and  is  also  working  among  the  Jews.  We  shall  consider  this 
mission  work  in  another  section. 

A  very  unique  organization  supported  by  the  Episcopal 
Church  is  All  Souls  Church  for  the  Deaf,  organized  in  1889, 
and  which  has  a  membership  at  present  of  266,  and  a  sunday 
school  of  about  150.  It  is  meeting  a  very  real  need  and  reaches 
a  class  for  whom  no  other  church  has  made  any  provision. 

At  Old  St.  Paul's  Church  daily  noon-day  services  are  held 
throughout  the  year  with  preaching  on  Friday.  These  ser- 
vices which  are  conducted  under  the  auspices  of  the  Brother- 
hood of  St.  Andrew,  are  well  attended  by  business  men  in  the 
locality.  A  girl's  friendly  society  meets  here  on  Friday  even- 
ings, and  there  is  a  mother's  meeting  on  Thursdays.  Thus 
while  St.  Paul's  is  without  a  regular  congregation,  it  having 
been  merged  with  St.  Peter's,  yet  it  is  still  a  center  of  uplift. 

The  Church  of  the  Redeemer  is  a  well  organized  and  well 
equipped  mission  and  club  house  for  seamen.  Services  are 
held  several  times  a  week,  vessels  are  visited  by  the  workers, 
and  the  house  with  reading  and  game  room  is  always  open. 
It  is  a  popular  place  with  the  seamen. 

In  general,  the  Episcopal  Church  has  shown  a  more  intelli- 
gent grasp  of  the  whole  situation  in  the  down-town  field  than 
any  other.  It  observed  the  signs  of  the  times,  and  was  wise 
enough  to  know  what  the  church  ought  to  do.  It  has  strength- 
ened its  existing  centers,  and  is  still  doing  so,  by  adequate  en- 
dowments, and  in  making  them  useful  in  community  service. 


The  Down-town  Churches  of  Philadelphia  57 

5.   The  Friends 
Meeting  1880  1900  1903    igii  History. 

Primitive  Friends 350  * 1910,  moved  to  Bucks  Co. 

Membership      estimated, 

175. 

Fourth  and  Green 1 150     . . .     791     681 

(Hicksite) 

Ninth  and  Spruce 150     ...       78     ...     1903,    Property    sold,    and 

(Hicksite)  members    transferred    to 

15th  and  Race. 
1881  igo4 

Southern 231     213     214     . .  .* 

(Orthodox) 

Northern 416     221     165     ...' 

(Orthodox) 

Western 648     739     770     ...  * 

(Orthodox) 

These  quaint  old  meeting-houses,  half  hidden  behind  high 
brick  walls,  are  among  the  most  interesting  sights  in  historic 
Philadelphia.  There  is  an  air  of  refinement  and  simplicity 
about  them  which  is  characteristic  and  not  to  be  found  in  any 
other  religion.  They  impress  one  as  being  exclusive,  however, 
and  one  would  not  think  of  entering  them  as  he  would  one  of 
the  more  democratic  churches.  They  are  institutions  which 
recall  the  past,  and  seem  out  of  place  in  the  hustle  and  rush  of 
modern  life. 

The  members  of  these  old  meeting-houses  are  scattered  over 
Philadelphia  and  adjoining  counties.  A  very  small  percentage 
of  them  live  in  this  old  section  where  once  they  exerted  such  a 
healthful  influence.  But  attachment  to  the  old  buildings  and 
old  associations  still  hold  their  interest. 

The  Orthodox  Friends  are  still  conservative  in  belief  and 
methods  of  worship,  but  members  say  that  a  liberalizing  ten- 
dency has  become  manifest  within  the  past  ten  years,  in  the 
direction  of  giving  younger  members  more  voice  in  matters. 
The  Twelfth  Street  meeting  is  the  most  cosmopolitan  meeting 
probably  in  America,  there  being  members  in  it  from  every 
part  of  the  United  States.     This  influx  from  other  parts  of  the 

1  Estimated. 

'  Statistics  not  available. 


58  The  Down-town  Church 

country  accounts  for  its  steady  growth.     The  membership  of 
the  other  meetings  has  become  quite  small. 

These  congregations  do  not,  as  such,  have  any  outside  ac- 
tivities. But  as  individual  members  Friends  are  active  in  the 
support  of  all  good  causes.  A  sunday-school  with  an  enroll- 
ment of  four  hundred  members  is  held  at  918  Locust  St.  for 
colored  children.  Formerly  there  were  other  activities  carried 
on  here,  but  it  was  decided  to  transfer  them  to  the  Eighth  Ward 
Settlement  nearby. 

At  718  Catharine  St.  a  week-day  school  for  boys  and  girls 
with  an  enrollment  of  about  one  hundred  and  thirty  is  con- 
ducted by  Friends.  There  is  also  some  neighborhood  service 
rendered — industrial  training  for  the  children,  a  mother's 
meeting  for  the  women,  and  entertainment  and  moral  instruc- 
tion for  both. 

The  Fourth  and  Arch  Meeting  has  a  small  school  for  colored 
children  at  913  Latimer  St.,  and  the  Sixth  and  Noble  Meeting 
has  in  its  building  the  "Aimwell  School  for  Girls."  About 
seventy-five  girls  from  the  neighborhood  attend  it.  Lessons 
in  cooking  and  sewing,  and  moral  instruction,  are  given  in  addi- 
tion to  the  regular  school  work,  which  is  said  to  be  of  a  high 
standard. 

The  North  House  Settlement  on  Marshall  St.  near  Noble 
St.  is  under  the  direction  of  and  is  supported  by  Friends.  It 
is  doing  a  splendid  work  in  a  most  needy  field. 

The  Fourth  and  Green  meeting  is  still  considered  very  con- 
servative. It  is  one  of  the  largest  and  richest  meetings  in  the 
whole  society  of  Friends.  It  is  estimated  that  about 
one  hundred  and  fifty  of  its  seven  hundred  members  still  live 
east  of  Broad  St.  It  does  not  conduct  any  neighborhood  work, 
but  the  Neighborhood  Guild  is  the  center  for  the  work  of  the 
whole  society  of  Hicksite  Friends  east  of  Broad  St. 

Its  aim  is,  "  to  uplift  the  people  of  the  neighborhood,  (i)  by 
the  study  of  the  Bible  in  the  First  Day  School ;  (2)  By  numer- 
ous visits  to  their  homes  by  the  superintendent ;  (3)  By  afford- 
ing wholesome  recreation  through  games,  entertainments,  pic- 
nics, etc.;  (4)  By  developing  their  bodies  through  gymnasium 
exercise;   (5)  By  giving  lessons  in  sewing,  cooking,  and  instruc- 


The  Down-town  Churches  of  Philadelphia  59 

tion  to  mothers  in  the  care  of  their  children. "     It  is  a  center  of 
useful  service. 

Friends  make  no  effort  to  proselytize.  They  make  no  effort 
to  attract  people.  But  in  quiet  personal  ways  they  exert  an 
influence  which  is  most  beneficent  and  far-reaching.  It  is 
quite  probable  that  removals  from  the  neighborhood,  com- 
bined with  conservatism  and  lack  of  adaptiveness,  will  event- 
ually lead  to  the  extinction  of  more  of  these  meetings.  But  if 
the  ancient  land-marks  are  removed,  it  will  be  a  distinct  loss 
which  no  amount  of  church  work  of  a  more  noisy  kind  can 
quite  take  the  place  of. 


6o  The  Down-town  Church 

6.   The  Lutheran  Churches 
Church  1880  1890  1900  1910  History 

St.  Mark's  (English) 592  600  517     400 

St.  John's  (English)  ....  330  278  235     263 

Emmanuel  (German)  ...  700  680  600    650 

St.  Paulus  (German)  ...  400  456  500  1050     ^ 

Zion  (German) 700  470  338    373 

The  five  Lutheran  churches  whose  statistics  are  given  above, 
were  all  well-established  and  vigorous  thirty  years  ago.  They 
stand  at  their  original  locations,  but  their  strength  has  remained 
remarkably  constant. 

The  statistics  of  these  churches  are  very  unsatisfactory,  one 
church  reporting  the  same  membership  for  thirteen  years, 
another  for  eight,  and  another  for  seven.  Only  one  of  them, — 
St.  John's, — reported  with  seeming  care.  But  the  statistics  as 
they  stand  are  sufficient  to  indicate  the  genera^  trend. 

Lutherans  seem  exceptionally  loyal  to  their  churches.  In 
no  case  do  more  than  half  the  members  live  in  the  district, 
and  in  one  case  only  ten  per  cent,  live  within  six  blocks  of  the 
church,  yet  the  reported  membership  does  not  decrease  as 
much  as  might  have  been  expected. 

These  churches  have  appealed  especially,  of  course,  to  Ger- 
man speaking  people  and  those  of  German  descent,  and  except 
in  the  sunday-schools,  there  has  been  little  response  except 
from  this  group  even  in  English  churches. 

The  churches  in  which  the  services  are  still  held  in  German, 
all  have  week-day  schools,  which  exist  primarily,  it  seems,  to 
preserve  the  mother  tongue,  and  thus  make  possible  the  con- 
tinuance of  the  churches. 

The  Lutherans  are  very  conservative  in  their  ideas  and  do 
not,  with  the  exception  of  the  younger  ministers,  take  much 
part  in  movements  outside  the  sphere  of  their  congregations. 
But  they  have  performed  an  important  service,  in  conserving 

^  Disparity  due  to  a  new  standard  of  membership. 


The  Down-town  Churches  of  Philadelphia  6i 

the  religious  life  of  a  large  group,  that  would  probably  have 
been  uninfluenced  by  other  churches. 

The  Lutherans  conduct  preaching  services  at  least  once  a 
month  in  eleven  different  languages.  One  of  these  foreign 
groups,  the  Lithuanians,  meets  in  St.  Mark's  church.  Another, 
the  Swedish  congregation,  formerly  met  there,  then  transferred 
its  work  to  a  church  on  Ninth  St.  near  Noble  St.,  but  a  few 
years  ago  moved  across  Broad  St.  to  a  new  building  which  it 
erected. 

In  1906,  the  Inner  Mission  Society  opened  a  neighborhood 
settlement  at  Fourth  and  Callowhill  Sts.,  but  two  years  ago 
moved  it  to  Front  St.  above  Girard  Ave. 

The  Samaritan  Inn,  a  shelter  for  homeless  men,  is  supported 
and  directed  largely  by  Lutheran  people.  It  is  well  kept, 
and  commodious,  but  the  method  of  admission  by  tickets, 
which  the  applicant  is  expected  to  solicit  from  those  who  pur- 
chase them,  is  somewhat  demoralizing.  Religious  services  are 
held  here  every  evening,  and  in  strong  contrast  to  most  mis- 
sions of  this  sort,  the  report  modestly  says,  "souls  have  been 
saved. " 


62 


The  Down-town  Church 


7.  Other  Churches 

Church                               1880  j8go  igoo  igii                 History 

Eighth  St No    information    or    sta- 

(Advent  Christian)  tistics  available. 

Marble  Hall No    information    or    sta- 

(Advent  Christian)  tistics  available. 

Mt.  Zion No    information    or    sta- 

(Christian  Independent)  tistics  available. 

First  Church  of  Christ 300     1893,  Moved  to  Berks  St., 

(Disciples)  near  nth  Street. 

Emmanuel 279  327     228     244 

(Evangelical  Association) 
Southwark 90     117     1895,  Moved  to  1718  S. 

(Evangelical  Association)  9th  Street. 

Latter  Day  Saints 52     1884,  Moved  to  nth  St. 

(Mormon)  and  Girard  Avenue. 

First  Moravian 152     162     1892,     Moved     to     Fair- 

(Moravian)  mount  Av. ,  near  1 7th  St. 

Church  of  New  Jerusalem ^ 1882,  Moved  to  22nd  and 

(Swedenborgian)  Chestnut  Streets. 

Church  of  Covenant 250     1888,  United  with  Church 

(Reformed  Episcopal)  of  Redeemer. 

First 300    274     1895,  Moved  to  15th  and 

(Ref.  Church  in  America)  Dauphin  Streets. 

Second 550  381     193     150 

(Ref.  Church  in  America) 
Third 94     Became  extinct. 

(Ref.  Church  in  America) 

First 201  220     175     506 

(Ref.  Church  in  U.  S.) 

Salem  (German) ^  ♦ 

(Ref.  Church  in  U.  S.)      ( 

Salem  Mission^ >  658  934    650    557 

(Ref.  Church  in  U.  S.)     J 
Spring  Garden 1    ...1    1987,    Moved   to    Girard 

(Unitarian)  Avenue,  near  15th  St. 

^»rst 1    1883,    Moved    to    Chest- 

.  (Unitarian)  nut  St.,  near  21st  St. 

^*^^* *    1885,  became  extinct. 

(Universalist) 

Church  of  Messiah 128  343     1890,    Moved   to   Master 

(Universalist)  St.,  near  i8th  St. 

^^^^on\s 1 Became  extinct. 

(Universalist) 

I  Statistics  not  kept,  or  not  procurable. 
1901,  moved  to  6th  and  Pierce  streets. 


The  Down-town  Churches  of  Philadelphia  63 

Church  1880  1890  igoo  1911  History 

Cooperative * Became  extinct.     No  in- 

(Spiritualist)  formation  procurable. 

First  Association ^ Moved      to      12th       and 

(Spiritualist)  Thompson  Streets. 

Keystone  Assocaition ^ Became  extinct. 

(Spiritualist) 

Of  the  24  churches  or  religious  organizations  in  the  above 
group  representing  13  denominations,  5  are  at  their  original 
locations,  7  have  become  extinct,  and  12  have  moved  to  other 
locations.  Of  the  five  that  remain,  one  is  in  a  decadent  condi- 
tion, while  none  of  them  is  a  neighborhood  force  of  much  im- 
portance. 

The  largest  of  them,  the  First  Reformed,  has  an  endowment 
of  $65,000.  But  instead  of  making  the  church  more  useful,  it 
has  had  the  effect  of  relieving  the  members  of  financial  respon- 
sibility, with  consequent  loss  of  interest.  Only  one-fourth  of 
the  members  live  east  of  Broad  St.  and  except  through  the 
sunday-school,  no  impression  is  being  made  on  the  neighbor- 
hood. The  church  is  poorly  lighted  and  uninviting.  The 
minister,  a  young  man  who  has  just  undertaken  the  work, 
realizes  the  opportunities  for  community  service,  and  hopes 
to  employ  a  deaconess  and  enlarge  the  usefulness  of  the  church. 

The  Emmanuel  Church  of  the  Evangelical  Association  is 
about  holding  its  own,  with  a  tendency  under  the  present  pas- 
torate to  grow.  It  continues  to  hold  its  own  members  and  to 
bring  in  some  of  their  children,  but  little  more  is  accomplished. 

The  Second  Reformed  Church  is  in  a  very  much  run  down 
condition.  It  has  been  without  a  pastor  for  some  time,  and 
there  is  doubt  as  to  its  ability  to  survive  much  longer.  A 
Hungarian  congregation  of  forty  members  meets  in  this  build- 
ing on  Sunday  evenings. 

The  Salem  Reformed  Church  (German)  is  making  no  effort 
to  reach  the  neighborhood.  The  pastor  sees  no  hope  for  the 
churches  of  this  section.  He  looks  with  disfavor  upon  new 
methods  and  does  not  think  they  bring  spiritual  results.  For 
a  time,  this  church  conducted  Salem  Mission  in  the  south 
eastern  section  of  the  district,  but  the  work  was  discontinued 
in  1908  on  account  of  a  lack  of  workers  and  the  meager  results. 

'  Statistics  not  kept  or  not  procurable. 


64  The  Down-town  Church 

8.   The  Negro  Churches 

Church                               1880  1890  1900    1910  History 

First  African 612     559  iioo     1906,  Moved  to  i6th  and 

(Baptist)  Christian  Streets. 

Shiloh 551     947     815     1094 

(Baptist) 
Union 425     298  1350    241 1 

(Baptist) 
Ebenezer , 154    282      820  Organized  in  1885. 

(Baptist) 
Zion 368     762     1270  Organized  in  1883. 

(Baptist) 
St.  Thomas 139     ...     450      388   1 888-1 892,   services  held 

(Protestant  Episcopal)  in  hall,  17th  and  South 

Sts.,  during  erection  of 
new  building. 
Crucifixion 164    280    275       349 

(Protestant  Episcopal) 
St.  Peter  Claver looo  Organized  in  1893. 

(Catholic) 
First  African 106      60     1 891,  Moved  to  17th  and 

(Presbyterian)  Fitzwater  Streets. 

Lombard  Street 386    412     436      442 

(Presbyterian) 
Bethel 1264  1071  1188     1428 

(African  M.  E.) 
Union 350     1884,  Moved  to  i6th  and 

(African  M.  E.)  Fairmount  Avenue. 

Mt.  Olive 33    215    239      268 

(African  M.  E.) 
Wesley 60     1885,  Moved  to  15th  and 

(African  M.  E.  Zion)  Lombard  Sts.  Member- 

ship now,  1700. 
John  Wesley 197     Disbanded  about  1883. 

(Methodist  Episcopal) 
Zoar 375     400     517       703 

(Methodist  Episcopal) 
Bainbridge 246    389     1907,    Moved    to    Broad 

(Methodist  Episcopal)  and  Fitzwater  Sts. 

Total  1880  1890  1900    1910 

Number  of  Churches 13       12       12         11 

Membership 4662  5010  7803  10173 

The  Negro  church  has  had  the  most  remarkable  develop- 
ment of  any  of  the  Christian  institutions  of  the  down-town 


The  Down-town  Churches  of  Philadelphia  65 

districts.  The  number  of  churches  in  this  section  in  1880  was 
13;  today  there  are  12.  Some  have  moved  westward  across 
Broad  Street,  but  others  have  been  organized  to  take  their 
places.  Only  one  has  failed  and  passed  out  of  existence,  while 
all  the  others  have  increased  in  membership  to  a  remarkable 
degree,  surpassing  in  this  respect  most  of  the  churches  of  the 
whites,  even  in  most  favorable  localities. 

The  church  occupies  a  very  important  place  in  the  social 
development  of  the  American  Negro.  "Among  most  people  the 
principal  social  group  was  the  family,  or  at  least  the  clan.  Not 
so  among  the  American  Negro.  Such  vestiges  of  primitive 
organization  among  the  Negro  slaves  were  destroyed  by  their 
slaveship.  In  this  country,  the  first  distinct  voluntary  organ- 
ization of  Negroes  was  the  Negro  church.  The  Negro  church 
came  before  the  Negro  home.  It  antedates  their  social  life, 
and  in  every  respect  it  stands  to  day  as  the  fullest  and  broad- 
est expression  of  organized  Negro  life.  ...  In  origin  and  func- 
tion, the  Negro  church  is  a  broader,  deeper,  and  more  compre- 
hensive social  organization  than  the  church  of  white  Ameri- 
cans. "^ 

Professor  Du  Bois  thus  describes  the  church  as  a  center  of 
the  social  life  of  the  people  today.  "The  Negro  church  is  not 
simply  an  organization  for  the  propagation  of  religion;  it  is  the 
center  of  social,  intellectual,  and  religious  life  of  an  organized 
group  of  individuals.  It  provides  social  intercourse,  it  provides 
amusements  of  various  kinds,  it  serves  as  a  newspaper  and  in- 
telligence bureau,  it  supplants  the  theatre,  it  directs  the  picnic 
and  the  excursion,  it  furnishes  the  music,  it  introduces  the 
strangers  to  the  community,  it  serves  as  a  lyceum,  library,  and 
lecture  bureau.  It  is  in  fine  the  central  organization  of  the  or- 
ganized life  of  the  American  Negro,  for  amusement,  relaxation, 
instruction,  and  religion.  To  maintain  its  pre-eminence  the 
Negro  church  has  been  forced  to  compete  with  the  dance-hall, 
the  theatre,  and  the  home  as  an  amusement  giving  agency. 
.  .  .  The  church  has  been  peculiarly  successful,  so  that  of  the 
ten  thousand  Philadelphia  negroes  whom  I  asked,  where  do 
you  get  your  amusement,  fully  three-quarters  could  only 
answer,  from  the  churches."' 


*  Dr.  W.  E.  DuBois,  in  College  Settlement  News,  Philadelphia,  July,  1897. 

*  Special  Report  on  Negro  Domestic  Service  in  7th  Ward. 


66  The  Down-town  Church 

The  hold  that  the  Negro  church  has  upon  the  people,  may 
be  seen  by  the  remarkable  growth  in  membership,  as  in- 
dicated by  the  statstical  table  above.  There  has  been  a  gradual 
movement  of  the  Negro  population  westward,  yet  the  churches 
in  the  old  fields  have  steadily  grown  notwithstanding  this  fact^ 
the  membership  of  the  Negro  church  east  of  Broad  Street  being 
more  than  double  what  it  was  thirty  years  ago. 

The  Baptist  and  Methodist  churches  are  all  centers  of  great 
activity.  The  churches  are  open  several  nights  a  week  for 
suppers,  bazaars,  entertainments,  lectures,  and  socials  of  every 
description.  The  membership  of  these  churches  is  largely  of 
the  middle  class  Negroes,  the  best  of  the  great  laboring  class. 
They  are  steady,  honest,  respectable,  and  well-dressed.  They 
are  interested  in  the  success  of  the  church,  and  active  in  help- 
ing in  its  work.  But  while  they  are  stirred  by  emotional 
preaching,  and  singing,  one  gains  the  impression  that  the  church 
is  more  of  a  social  than  a  religious  center,  and  that  its  value  is 
in  deterring  its  members  from  less  pernicious  influences  than  in 
lifting  them  up  to  higher  moral  standards.  Most  of  the  minis- 
ters are  well  educated.  Those  of  the  larger  churches  have 
striking  personalities,  and  some  of  them  a  genius  for  organiza- 
tion and  leadership. 

The  ministers  of  the  Episcopal  and  Presbyterian  churches 
are  well  educated  and  trained.  These  churches  draw  their 
membership  from  a  rather  higher  social  class.  St.  Thomas* 
is  the  aristocratic  colored  church  of  the  city,  and  for  this  reason, 
its  membership  has  not  grown  rapidly.  The  members  here, 
are  "well-to-do  Philadelphians,  largely  descendents  of  favorite 
mulatto  house-servants,  and  consequently  are  well-bred  and 
educated.  It  represents  the  most  cultured  and  wealthiest  of 
the  Negro  population  and  Philadelphia  born  residents.^  This 
church  is  contemplating  a  change  of  location.  Their  church 
property  is  most  valuable  and  it  is  probable  they  will  move 
farther  west  soon. 

The  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  of  the  Crucifixion  is  in 
strong  contrast  to  St.  Thomas'  in  that  it  is  situated  among  the 
people  and  that  it  has  always  made  an  effort  to  reach  the 
people  through  helpful  ministries.     Prof.  Du  Bois  speaks  of  it 

^  Du  Bois,  The  Philadelphia  Negro,  pp.  198-9,  and  203. 


The  Down-town  Churches  of  Philadelphia  67 

as  "perhaps  the  most  effective  church  organization  in  the  city 
for  benevolent  and  rescue  work.  It  has  been  built  up  virtually 
by  one  Negro,  a  man  of  sincerity  and  culture,  and  peculiar 
energy.  This  church  carries  on  regular  church  work  at  Bain- 
bridge  and  Eighth  Streets,  and  at  two  branch  missions;  it  helps 
in  the  fresh  air  fund,  has  an  ice  mission,  a  vacation  school,  and 
a  parish  visitor.  It  makes  an  especial  feature  of  good  music 
with  a  vested  choir,  one  or  two  courses  of  University  Extension 
lectures  are  held  here  each  year,  and  there  is  a  large  beneficial 
and  insurance  society  in  active  operation,  and  a  Home  for  the 
Homeless  on  Lombard  Street.  This  church  especially  reaches 
after  a  class  of  neglected  poor,  whom  the  other  colored  churches 
shun  or  forget  and  for  whom  there  is  little  fellowship  in  white 
churches."^ 

The  Presbyterian  Church  on  Lombard  Street  is  a  conserva- 
tive old  church  which  reaches  a  very  respectable  class  of  people. 
It  is  ministered  to  by  an  old  man  of  culture  and  refinement, 
but  the  church  is  not  an  active  force  in  the  community. 

The  Catholic  Church  has  an  estimated  membership  in  the 
parish  of  1 000,  with  an  average  of  forty  or  fifty  converts  a  year. 
There  is  a  fine  parochial  school  building  with  an  enrollment  of 
nearly  300.  There  are  three  priests,  seven  sisters  and  one  lay 
teacher  in  the  parish.  There  is  a  club  room  with  pool  tables, 
a  gymnasium  and  games  for  men  and  boys.  The  Negroes 
especially  of  the  most  backward  type  would  naturally  be  sus- 
ceptible to  the  teachings  and  worship  of  the  Catholic  Church, 
and  it  is  not  improbable  that  this  church  may  eventually  win 
a  large  following  from  them. 

On  the  whole,  we  feel  that  the  churches  exercise  a  most  bene- 
ficent influence  over  the  colored  people.  They  provide  a  center 
for  social  intercourse,  which  is  much  safer  and  better  than  any 
place  else.  They  afford  in  the  organizing  and  activities  of  the 
various  auxiliary  societies,  training  of  great  mental  and  moral 
value ;  while  as  religious  centers,  they  hold  up  ideals  of  morality 
and  industry  and  self  control,  which  cannot  but  have  some 
effect  on  their  social  development. 

»  The  Philadelphia  Negro,  p.  217. 


68  The  Down-town  Church 

g.  The  Missions 

In  addition  to  these  organized  congregations  whose  history, 
and  present  conditions  and  activities  we  have  been  considering, 
there  are  not  a  few  missions,  whose  influence  is  more  or  less 
felt,  and  whose  methods  and  results  ought  to  be  noticed. 

The  best  known  of  these  perhaps,  is  the  Salvation  Army, 
together  with  its  kindred  organizations,  the  Volunteers  of 
America,  and  the  American  Salvation  Army.  There  is  well- 
grounded  suspicion  that  the  last  named  organization  exists  for 
a  sinister  rather  than  a  helpful  purpose.  But  the  effort  of  the 
regular  Salvation  Army  to  prevent  the  use  of  its  name  was  not 
successful.  Most  people  to  whom  it  appeals  for  aid  do  not 
distinguish  between  the  two  organizations,  and  it  thus  receives 
much  of  the  patronage  designed  for  the  older  organization, 
whose  motive  is  generally  recognized  as  proper  and  worthy  of 
support. 

These  three  organizations  employ  the  same  methods,  work 
among  the  same  classes,  and  have  about  the  same  success  or  lack 
of  success. 

The  Salvation  Army  has  two  posts  in  this  district,  the  other 
two  organizations,  one  each.  Meetings  are  held  nightly.  The 
audiences  are  similar  to  the  audiences  seen  in  other  rescue  mis- 
sions, with  the  difference  that  a  few  women  and  children  are 
also  likely  to  be  present.  Their  services  are  strongly  evangelis- 
tic, and  the  appeal  is  always  to  the  emotions.  An  occasional 
man  or  woman  is  influenced  to  better  living.^  But  one  cannot 
but  feel  that  for  the  efforts  expended  the  results  are  woefully 
meagre.  Their  band  of  workers  with  their  blatant  instruments 
may  attract  passing  notice  from  the  crowd  of  passersby,  but 
there  does  not  seem  to  be  abiding  interest,  and  very  few  follow 
the  procession  to  the  hall  to  attend  the  indoor  meetings.  The 
repetition  of  the  same  thing,  time  after  time,  becomes  pain- 
fully mechanical  and  ineffective,  to  one  who  has  listened  to 
their  services. 

It  was  the  realization  of  this  fact  that  led  General  Booth  to 
dwell  upon  the  social  features  of  the  Salvation  Army.^     These 


^  See  Begbie,  Twice-Born  Men,  for  remarkable  examples. 
«  William  Booth,  In  Darkest  England,  and  the  Way  Out. 


The  Down-town  Churches  of  Philadelphia  69 

are  now  the  most  significant  feature  of  Salvation  Army  methods. 
''Beginning  as  an  emotional  religious  revival,  it  has  become  a 
great  agency  for  providing  employment,  lodging,  and  food  for 
poor  people.  Its  Christmas  dinners  and  its  lodging  houses 
are  perhaps  more  noteworthy  than  its  religious  activity."^  It 
is  severely  criticized  for  its  loose  financial  methods,  and  for  its 
disregard  of  the  canons  of  scientific  charity.  There  is  no 
doubt  that  the  rank  and  file  of  the  Army's  officers  and  members 
who  are  actively  engaged  in  social  work  are  a  devoted  group, 
who  make  up  much  in  devotion,  for  what  they  lack  in  intelli- 
gence, ''but  instead  of  striking  at  the  root  of  social  evils,  the 
Army  is  too  frequently  inclined  to  take  part  in  remedies  that 
catch  the  applause  of  the  unthinking  public.  "^ 

There  are  seven  or  eight  rescue  missions  in   this  district, 
whose  work  has  become  a  more  or  less  established  feature  of 
the  religious  activities  of  the  city.     The  best  known  of  these 
is  the  Sunday  Breakfast  Association,  which  has  now  begun  its 
thirty-fourth  year  of  work.     Every  Sunday  morning  and  even- 
ing during  the  year,  from  five  to  eight  hundred  men  gather  here 
to  be  fed,  and  remain  after  their  repast  for  the  religious  service. 
There  is  an  after  meeting  for  those  who  will  remain,  and  the 
workers  who  are    redeemed  men  themselves  assure  one  that 
many  are  reclaimed  and  changed.     There  are  also  a  number 
of  meetings  during  the  week,  designed  especially  to  strengthen 
the  converts  in  their  new  purposes.     No  doubt  can  be  enter- 
tained that  many  of  these  conversions  are  real.     But  it  is  a 
serious  question  in  the  minds  of  many,  whether  the  good  done 
the  few  is  not  offset  by  the  injury  done  the  many,  by  encourag- 
ing   them  in    lives  of   indolence  and    beggary.     One   man  was 
pointed  out  who  had  been  attending  the  meetings  for  thirty 
years,    without   any   apparent    change    in    his    habit   of    life. 
Nearly  all  who  were  there  revealed  their  familiarity  with  the 
customs  of  the  institution.     The  spiritual  results  in  proportion 
to  the  great  number  in  attendance  are  very  meager.     Other 
mission  halls  in  the  same  neighborhood,  that  do  not  resort  to 
these   pauperizing   and    demoralizing   methods   get   a   propor- 
tionately larger  response  than  this  great  organization.     It  may 

^  Ray  Stannard  Baker,  American  Magazine,  September,  1909,  p.  442. 
^  Carstens,  An.  Amer.  Acad.,  30,  555-6. 


70  The  Down-town  Church 

be  due  to  the  fact  that  a  lower  grade  of  men  comes  to  the  "hand- 
out missions,"  for  the  mission  parasite  is  confessedly  the  very 
lowest.  But  the  difference  in  social  class  is  not  apparent  to 
the  observer.  It  is  more  probably  due  to  the  smaller  group, 
and  closer  contact  which  this  makes  possible. 

The  best  equipped  and  most  intelligently  managed  mission 
hall  in  this  district  is  the  Galilee  Mission,  an  institution  sup- 
ported largely  by  the  Episcopal  Church.  There  is  a  well-kept 
lodging-house  with  accommodations  for  i68  men  in  connection 
with  this  mission,  and  also  a  restaurant  where  a  surprisingly 
large  and  nourishing  meal  can  be  secured  for  a  trifle,  and  also 
a  wood-yard  where  homeless  men  can  earn  their  lodging,  and 
men  recently  converted  can  earn  their  living  for  a  short  time 
under  good  influence.  There  is  also  a  reading-room  and  smok- 
ing room,  but  the  main  feature  of  the  mission  is  its  nightly 
evangelistic  meeting.  The  cheerful  and  inviting  hall  is  usually 
well  filled,  and  remarkable  results  are  reported.  The  superin- 
tendent is  admirably  adapted  for  the  work  and  exercises  a  sav- 
ing and  uplifting  influence  upon  the  men  who  drift  in. 

The  other  rescue  missions,  the  Wayside  and  the  Eighth 
Street,  the  latter  under  the  support  and  direction  of  the  Method- 
ist Church,  and  the  Bethesda  and  Inasmuch  Missions,  follow 
the  usual  methods  of  nightly  meetings,  evangelistic  appeals, 
and  testimonies  of  redeemed  men.  All  report  many  men  per- 
manently changed  during  the  year,  and  there  is  no  question 
that  some  are  profoundly  influenced.  But  it  is  patent  to  the 
observer  that  the  great  mass  of  those  who  attend  these  services 
go  away  untouched. 

Estimates  of  conversions  vary  from  one  to  ten  per  cent,  of 
those  "who  come  forward."  "Five  per  cent."  says  Ray  Stan- 
nard  Baker,  "would  probably  be  a  liberal  estimate."  Mr. 
Baker,  who  propounds  a  very  pertinent  question  as  the  title  of 
his  article,^  shows  the  whole  inadequacy  of  our  efforts  in  the 
solution  of  the  problem  of  the  type  of  man  appealed  to  by  the 
rescue  mission.  "While  religion  is  feebly  getting  at  five  men, 
our  civilization  is  hopelessly  ruining  not  only  the  ninety-five 
others  who  inquire,  but  the  hundreds  upon  hundreds  who  come 

^  "Lift  Men  from  the  Gutter?  Or,  Remove  the  Gutter?  Which? "  American 
Magazine,  July,  1909. 


The  Down-town  Churches  of  Philadelphia  71 

to  the  mission  and  do  not  go  forward;  to  say  nothing  of  the 
thousands  upon  thousands  of  miserable  creatures  who  never 
visit  the  missions  at  all." 

Institutions  of  a  very  different  character  from  those  just  de- 
scribed are  the  social  settlements,  nearly  all  of  which  have  re- 
ligious motives,  and  some  of  which  use  religious  methods.  Of 
these  may  be  mentioned  the  College  Settlement,  which  works 
largely  among  the  Jews;  Starr  Centre  and  the  Eighth  Ward 
Settlement,  which  work  mostly  among  the  colored  people. 
These  do  not  use  religious  methods.  Eighth  Street  Settle- 
ment, under  the  direction  of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church; 
North  House  and  Neighborhood  House,  both  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  Friends,  the  Neighborhood  House,  619  Addison  St., 
a  small  but  useful  center  of  neighborhood  uplift;  Bedford 
Street  Mission,  an  old  mission  with  a  reputation  for  its  bounty 
among  the  poor,  have  a  religious  purpose. 

The  Daily  Vacation  Bible  Schools  may  also  be  included  in 
this  group.  These  schools  meet  for  six  weeks  daily  during  the 
summer  months.  Part  of  the  period  is  devoted  to  industrial 
work,  and  part  to  moral  and  religious  instruction.  They  are 
held  usually  in  churches  and  have  served  a  good  purpose  in 
making  these  churches  useful  during  the  week  as  well  as  on 
Sundays,  and  also  as  social  as  well  as  religious  centers. 

These  settlements  in  varying  degrees  are  seeking  to  do  con- 
structive and  preventive  work,  rather  than  rescue  work.  They 
work  mostly  among  children,  though  seeking  to  influence  the 
parents  also  by  mother's  meetings,  entertainments,  and  visits 
to  the  homes  of  the  people.  Their  influence  is  quietly  exerted 
but  is  pervasive.  Seldom  do  they  report  conversions,  and  yet 
one  cannot  doubt  but  that  they  are  "saving  souls."  They 
are  having  no  small  part  in  the  leavening  of  the  city. 

Another  type  of  mission  that  we  find  in  this  district,  is  the 
mission  to  the  foreigner.  We  have  noticed  that  the  Baptist 
Church  has  been  especially  active  in  this  form  of  work,  having 
organizations  among  all  the  larger  groups.  With  the  excep- 
tion of  the  Lettish  congregation,  which  for  a  few  years  wor- 
shipped in  the  old  Spruce  Street  Baptist  Church,  and  which  at- 
tained a  membership  of  over  two  hundred  members,  none  of 
their  missions  to  foreign-speaking  groups  has  attained  any 
size  as  yet. 


72  The  Down-town  Church 

The  most  successful  effort  of  the  Protestant  church  to  prosely- 
tize an  immigrant  group,  is  that  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
among  the  Italians.  This  work  started  from  tent  meetings 
which  were  held  less  than  ten  years  ago.  Today,  there  is  a 
membership  of  four  hundred  members  with  a  sunday-school 
almost  as  large.  A  beautiful  building  has  been  erected  and  the 
work  seems  firmly  established. 

The  Episcopal  Church  also  has  a  congregation  of  Italians, 
but  it  has  never  made  the  progress  that  the  Presbyterian  work 
has,  probably  because  of  the  similarity  of  the  service  in  many 
respects  to  that  of  the  Catholic  church. 

The  proportion  of  men  in  these  Protestant  Italian  churches 
is  in  striking  contrast  to  the  proportion  in  the  Catholic  Italian 
churches. 

The  Protestant  Church  justifies  its  efforts  among  the  Italians 
by  the  claim  that  the  Catholic  Church  has  only  a  nominal  con- 
trol over  large  numbers  of  them.  "The  Vatican's  hostility  to 
Italian  unity  has  created  a  conviction  more  or  less  widespread 
among  Italians,  that  the  church  is  the  enemy  of  the  people's 
liberties.  Wherever  this  exists,  there  is  an  accompanying  feel- 
ing of  estrangement  from  the  church,  for  the  Italians  are  pa- 
triots first,  and  churchmen  after.  A  considerable  number  of 
immigrants  retain  a  sincere  piety,  especially  those  from  dis- 
tricts where  the  priest's  authority  is  still  unchallenged,  but  the 
majority  are  indifferent  to  their  inherited  faith.  Some  enter- 
tain toward  it  a  feeling  of  actual  hostility."^  The  Protestant 
churches  have  not  been  slow  to  recognize  their  opportunities 
and  all  the  larger  denominations  have  active  centers  of  work 
among  them. 

There  is  only  one  distinctively  Christian  mission  to  the  Jews. 
This  is  under  the  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church,  and  is  lo- 
cated at  Fifth  and  Catharine  Streets.  The  superintendent, 
who  is  professedly  a  converted  Jew,  admits  the  difficulty  of  his 
task,  but  is  hopeful  of  accomplishing  much.  In  addition  to 
preaching  services,  some  neighborhood  work  is  being  done 
among  children.  Unlike  the  former  superintendent,  who 
aroused  much  antagonism,  he  does  not  seek  directly  to  prose- 
lyte, but  first,   "to  make  them  respect  Christians,  and  then 

^Americans  in  Process,  pp.  273-4. 


The  Down-town  Churches  of  Philadelphia  73 

through  personal  influence,  bring  them  to  change  of  belief  and 
heart."  Settlement  workers  in  the  neighborhood  say  the  in- 
fluence of  the  mission  is  negligible  and  that  the  superintendent 
is  believed  by  the  Jewish  people  to  be  there  from  mercenary 
motives.  Judging  from  the  experiences  of  the  past,  the  success 
of  Christian  missions  of  this  sort  among  the  Jews  is  problemat- 
ical. 

The  Episcopal  Church  employs  two  Hebrew  Christians,  one 
of  whom  conducts  a  medical  dispensary  and  center  of  religious 
and  social  work  at  1600  S.  Fourth  Street,  and  the  other  is  em- 
ployed to  work  among  immigrants  in  helpful  ways.  His  cen- 
ter is  St.  Peter's  House  at  Front  and  Pine  Streets. 

The  Jews  have  suffered  so  many  persecutions  at  the  hands 
of  the  Christians,  that  a  very  deep-seated  hatred  of  them  exists. 
Every  attempt  to  proselytize  therefore,  is  looked  upon  as  a  new 
form  of  persecution  and  is  bitterly  resented.^  This  prejudice 
will  have  to  be  removed  by  long  contact  with  Christians  whose 
lives  express  their  avowed  beliefs,  before  missions  to  the  Jews 
will  ever  make  much  headway.  It  will  not  be  by  the  preaching 
of  the  Gospel,  but  by  the  living  of  the  Christ  life,  that  the  Jews 
will  come  to  see  the  truth  and  value  that  there  is  in  Christianity. 
Social  Settlements  therefore  give  promise  of  accomplishing 
more  for  the  propagation  of  the  faith  than  the  Church  among 
this  particular  group  in  the  next  few  generations. 

The  last  form  of  religious  work  that  we  shall  mention,  is 
that  of  open  air  and  tent  evangelistic  services.  The  Presby- 
terians inaugurated  this  work  in  1899  and  have  largely  carried 
it  on  since.  Last  summer  there  were  seventeen  tents  where 
open  air  services  were  held.  Nine  of  them  were  in  the  down- 
town district.  The  attendance  at  these  seventeen  centers  ag- 
gregated something  over  100,000,  an  average  of  about  350  at  a 
meeting.  The  results  of  these  meetings  are  too  intangible  to 
be  estimated.  But  the  committee  in  charge  of  the  work  are 
enthusiastic  about  it,  and  so  well  thought  of  are  the  methods 
by  church  workers  of  other  cities,  that  they  are  being  widely 
copied.  The  criticism  made  of  rescue  mission  work^  will  apply 
to  this  effort.     Some  will  be  attracted  and  of  them  a  few  will 


^  See  Ross,  Social  Psychology,  p.  241. 
^  See  above,  p.  70 


74  The  Down-town  Church 

be  deeply  moved  to  adopt  a  new  life;  but  the  success  is  that  of 
a  few  individuals  difficult  to  win  and  still  more  difficult  to  hold. 
Its  value  is  reclamatory,  rather  than  constructive. 

There  are  a  number  of  other  small  missions  in  this  district 
in  addition  to  those  which  have  been  named,  but  all  of  any 
importance  have  been  mentioned.  They  are  working  with- 
out co-ordination  or  co-operation.  The  result  is  wasted  efforts 
and  wasted  resources.  Most  of  these  agencies  are  poorly 
equipped  for  effective  work.  Few  of  them  have  a  broad  con- 
structive purpose.  None  of  them  is  making  any  serious  im- 
pression in  the  hard  shell  of  religious  indifference.  In  the 
closing  chapter  we  shall  offer  some  suggestions  as  to  how  these 
institutions  could  make  their  work  more  effective. 


The  Down-town  Churches  of  Philadelphia  75 

10.  The  Catholic  Churches 

It  is  not  our  purpose  to  consider  in  detail  the  work  of  the 
Catholic  churches  and  Jewish  synagogues.  But  a  review  of 
the  religious  work  of  this  district  would  not  be  complete  without 
some  reference  to  it. 

It  is  also  important  to  consider  the  work  of  the  Catholic 
churches,  because  of  their  comparative  success  among  the 
classes  which  we  have  been  considering. 

We  shall  then  note  only  the  general  features  of  their  work, 
in  order  to  arrive  if  possible  at  the  reasons  for  the  stability  of 
their  institutions,  and  the  pervasiveness  and  permanence  of 
their  influence. 

The  following  Catholic  churches  were  in  this  district  in  1880: 
Church  of  the  Assumption,  Holy  Trinity,  St.  Augustine's,  St. 
John  the  Evangelist,  St.  Joseph's,  St.  Mary's,  St.  Paul's,  St. 
Philip  de  Neri,  St.  Theresa,  St.  Mary  Magdaline  di  Rizzi. 
To  these  have  been  added,  St.  Peter  Claver,  for  work  among 
the  colored  people;  St.  Stanislaus  (1891),  a  Lithuanian  congre- 
gation; Lady  of  Good  Counsel  (1898),  an  Italian  congregation; 
Church  of  St.  Michael  (1907),  a  Greek  Church;  Immaculate 
Conception  (1909)  for  the  Ruthenian  Greeks;  and  a  Slavic 
congregation  in  1 9 10. 

With  the  exception  of  St.  Peter  Claver's,  all  of  these  congre- 
gations have  been  organized  out  of  new  elements  of  our  pop- 
ulation to  meet  the  needs  of  immigrants.  There  are  also  two 
Orthodox  Greek  churches  in  this  section  which  have  been  or- 
ganized within  recent  years.  They  are  not  under  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church. 

Statistics  of  these  churches  are  not  available.  Occasionally 
priests  would  make  approximations  and  indicate  in  general 
terms  the  changes  which  have  taken  place  in  their  parishes. 
Rev.  Father  McDermott  of  St.  Mary's  Church,  who  has  per- 
haps the  most  intimate  knowledge  of  conditions  in  this  whole 
section,  says  that  the  Roman  Catholic  Churches  have  been  as 
much  affected  by  the  changes  in  this  district  as  the  Protestant 
churches. 

In  his  own  parish  there  are  only  500  Catholics  now,  while 
30  years  ago  there  were  three  times  that  number.    The  priests 


76  The  Down-town  Church 

in  several  other  parishes  also  estimate  that  the  membership  of 
the  Catholic  church  is  from  only  one  half  to  one  third  what  it 
was  thirty  years  ago.  But  the  Catholics  of  the  district  are 
probably  much  more  loyal  to  their  church  and  faithful  in  at- 
tending its  services,  than  the  Protestant  people.  This  is  true 
at  least  of  the  Irish  and  American  Catholics.  Dr.  Walter 
Laidlaw  of  the  Church  Federation  of  New  York  City,  estimates 
that  80%  of  the  Roman  Catholic  population  of  Manhattan 
attend  church,  while  only  65%  of  the  Protestant^  do  so.  In 
the  very  careful  canvas  of  social  and  religious  conditions  in  the 
Twenty-First  Assembly  District  it  was  found  that  while  70% 
of  the  Hebrew  population  were  churchless  and  48.3%  of  the 
Protestant  population,  only  12.2%  of  the  Catholic  population, 
had  no  church  connections.^  Charles  Booth  observed  the  same 
condition  in  London.  "The  priests  complain  of  irregularity 
at  mass  and  of  indifference  to  religious  duties,  but  no  one  pass- 
ing from  the  Protestant  Church  to  theirs  would  take  that  view. 
They  have  a  higher  standard.  Moreover  the  attendance  is 
unmistakably  due  to  genuine  feeling  and  a  belief  of  the  divine 
authority  of  the  church  and  its  priesthood.  Of  support  pur- 
chased by  ordinary  material  benefits  there  is  no  trace.  "^ 

How  are  we  to  account  for  the  remarkable  hold  that  the 
Catholic  Church  has  upon  its  people?  First  by  its  insistence 
upon  secular  as  well  as  religious  instruction.  The  education 
of  the  children  is  not  intrusted  to  the  parents,  who  may  or  may 
not  be  faithful  in  imparting  the  teachings  of  the  church. 
Neither  does  the  church  sanction  the  non-religious  teaching 
of  the  public  schools.  It  takes  the  child  in  its  most  plastic 
and  most  responsive  years  and  instils  the  thought  of  the  church 
as  a  divine  institution  and  the  doctrine  of  the  church  as  pos- 
sessing divine  authority  and  the  impression  of  these  early 
years,  emphasized  and  re-emphasized  in  succeeding  years  is 
seldom  changed.  St.  Francis  Xavier  is  credited  as  saying 
"Give  me  the  children  until  they  are  seven  years  old  and  any 
one   may   take   them   afterwards."*     The   Protestant   Church 


*  Federation,  April,  1906,  p.  82. 

'  Federation  of  Churches,  New  York  City,  Report  "D,"  The  21st  Assembly 
District,  p.  68.     (1899.) 
'  Booth,  Life  and  Labor  in  London.     Part  III.,  vol.  2,  p.  39. 
Trumbull,  Yale  Lectures  on  the  Sunday  School,  pp.  67-72. 


The  Down-town  Churches  of  Philadelphia  'j'j 

leaves  the  religious  and  moral  training  of  its  children  to  their 
parents  and  to  the  sunday-school,  but  the  uncertainty  of  the 
one  and  the  inadequacy  of  the  other  are  such  that  most  Pro- 
testant children  are  untouched  religiously,  or  have  no  idea  of 
the  claims  of  the  church  upon  them.  Nowhere  else  has  the 
Catholic  Church  shown  more  sagacity  than  in  this  insistence 
upon  the  right  to  educate  the  young  and  decide  what  they 
'shall  be  taught. 

A  second  thing  that  helps  to  account  for  the  hold  of  the 
Catholic  church  upon  its  people  is  the  dogmatism  of  its  claims, 
of  its  creed  and  of  its  priesthood.  It  does  not  hesitate  to  claim 
that  it  is  the  only  true  church,  and  that  all  who  are  not  within 
it  are  damned.  It  speaks  with  authority,  and  anyone  who 
does  not  accept  its  teachings  is  declared  to  be  a  heretic.  What- 
ever the  value  of  the  claims  there  is  no  question  that  they  make 
a  profound  impression.  "There  are  those  to  whom  authority 
is  supremely  acceptable,  who  prefer  mental  passivity  to  ac- 
tivity, and  soul-surrender  to  self  assertion.  There  are  those 
who  greatly  prefer  the  exquisite  pleasure  of  the  peace  which 
comes  with  submission,  to  the  delight  and  satisfaction  which 
the  intelligent  explorer  finds  in  the  search  after  the  acquisi- 
tion of  truth.  The  feeling  of  dependence  is  mighty,  if  not 
almighty  in  religion.  It  is  in  religion,  in  what  concerns  the 
spiritual  life,  that  man  displays  his  greatest  helplessness  and 
surrenders  most  readily  and  even  thankfully  to  what  speaks 
with  authority,  distrustful  of  self  and  trustful  of  what  makes 
great  claims."^  Tylor  in  his  Origin  of  the  Aryans^  says,  "The 
dolicho-cephalic  Teutonic  race  is  Protestant.  The  brachy- 
cephalic  Celto-Slavic  Race  is  either  Roman  Catholic  or  Greek 
Catholic.  In  the  first,  individualism,  self-reliance,  indepen- 
dence are  strongly  developed ;  the  second  is  submissive  to  author- 
ity and  conservative  in  instinct."  Whether  the  differences 
between  Protestantism  and  Catholicism  have  this  ethnic  founda- 
tion is  doubtful,  but  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  dogmatic 
claims  to  authority  and  truth  do  make  profound  impression 
upon  certain  types  of  mind.     This  may  account  in  no  small 


1  Dulles,  The  True  Church,  p.  69. 

^  Quoted  by  Ross,  Social  Psychology,  pp.  6,  7. 


78  The  Down-town  Church 

degree  for  the  ready  acquiescence  of  the  Catholic  population 
in  accepting  the  moral  and  religious  leadership  of  that  church. 

A  third  reason  for  the  power  and  influence  of  the  Catholic 
church  is  in  its  wonderful  organization.  In  nearly  every  parish 
we  find  in  addition  to  the  priest  one  or  more  assistants  and 
several  sisters.  The  parishes  are  effectively  manned.  This 
makes  it  possible  for  the  church  to  keep  in  personal  touch 
with  its  members.  Dr.  Laidlaw  concludes  from  the  investi- 
gation of  the  2 1  St  Assembly  District,  New  York  City  that 
Roman  Catholicism  has  an  efficiency  of  87.8%  in  discovering 
and  attaching  to  homes  of  worship  its  people,  while  entire 
Protestantism  has  an  efficiency  of  only  51.7%.^  It  is  well 
said  "that  the  Catholic  Church  despite  its  own  dissatisfaction 
with  itself  can  give  points  to  most  Protestant  churches  in  the 
matter  of  shepherding  its  own,  as  well  as  gathering  in  those 
outside  the  fold.  With  its  magnificent  organization,  its  hun- 
dreds of  institutions  for  the  care  of  children,  the  aged  and 
the  sick,  and  a  devoted  sisterhood  consecrating  life  and  fortune 
to  the  cause,  it  holds  the  fort  in  the  down-town  district,  and  has 
good  grounds  for  asserting  its  claim  to  be  called  'the  working- 
man's  church'."^ 

And  yet  with  all  its  workers  the  Catholic  Church  does  not  de- 
pend so  much  upon  the  influence  of  personality,  as  upon  the 
attractive  and  vitalizing  influence  of  the  church  itself  together 
with  its  sacraments. 

The  Catholic  Church  does  not  make  an  effort  to  "attract" 
its  members.  It  makes  no  use  of  institutional  features  and  its 
organizations  all  have  a  religious  motive  and  expression. 
Catholic  priests  do  pastoral  visiting  only  as  a  "financial  neces- 
sity." The  church  is  not  only  the  object,  but  is  the  instru- 
ment of  all  the  activities  of  the  Parish.  With  the  parish 
system,  "overlapping  and  overlooking" — the  bane  of  Pro- 
testantism— are  avoided.  The  fact  that  the  priests  live  in 
the  parish  house,  and  one  can  always  be  found  there  also 
makes  the  Catholic  Church  a  real  force  in  a  community. 

It  is  impossible  to  gauge  the  real  value  of  the  Catholic  Church 
to  a  community.     Opinions  are  very  apt  to  be  prejudiced  one 

*  Op.  cit.,  pp.  67-9 

*  Horton,  The  Burden  of  the  City,  p.  24. 


The  Down-town  Churches  of  Philadelphia  79 

way  or  the  other.  Even  its  religious  value  depends  altogether 
upon  our  definition  of  religion.  It  is  certainly  more  successful 
than  the  Protestant  Church  in  bringing  and  keeping  those 
over  whom  it  has  any  claim  under  the  influence  of  religion, 
but  whether  with  its  tendency  to  formality  it  makes  its  mem- 
bers more  religious  in  the  broader  meaning  of  that  word  is  an 
open  question.  Perhaps  as  fair  an  estimate  on  the  subject  as 
can  be  found  is  the  expression  by  a  settlement  worker  of  Bos- 
ton, "It  may  be  that  on  the  whole,  the  one  type  of  Christianity 
counts  for  as  much  with  its  actual  adherents  as  the  other."* 

Ji.  The  Jewish  Synagogues 

In  1880  there  were  nine  or  ten  synagogues  in  the  district 
under  investigation.  These  were  nearly  all  in  the  northeastern 
quarter  of  the  district.  The  oldest  of  these,  Mikve  Israel, 
was  a  Portuguese  Synagogue.  This  was  the  only  orthodox 
synagogue  where  the  services  were  conducted  in  strict  ac- 
cordance with  tradition.  The  German  Jewish  Synagogues 
had  all  introduced  reforms.  The  most  prominent  of  these 
were  Rodeph  Shalom  and  Keneseth  Israel.  The  only  Russian 
Synagogue  at  this  time  was  in  a  small  Jewish  community  in 
Port  Richmond. 

About  1882  there  was  an  enormous  influ?^  of  Russian  Jews 
into  Philadelphia  as  the  result  of  the  atrocities  in  Russia. 
Since  that  time  they  have  come  in  a  steady  stream.  They 
have  settled  in  the  district  south  of  Spruce  St.  largely,  and  in 
the  wards  near  the  river.  The  differentiation  between  these 
later  arrivals  and  the  German  and  Portuguese  Jews  of  an  early 
immigration  is  quite  complete. 

At  present  there  are  about  sixty  synagogues  in  the  whole 
city,  with  a  reported  membership  of  about  11,000.  Thirty- 
five  of  these  synagogues  are  in  the  wards  whose  religious  life 
we  have  been  considering.  One  of  these,  Rodeph  Shalom,  is 
a  reform  synagogue  in  the  north-western  section,  but  all  the 
others  are  orthodox  synagogues,  organized  within  the  last  thirty 
years. 

The  membership  of  these  35  synagogues  is  5733.  Two  of 
these  have  a  membership  of  over  1000  each.     One  has  300;  six 

*  City  Wilderness,  p.  225. 


8o  The  Down-town  Church 

have  over  200,  while  of  the  rest  the  majority  have  a  member- 
ship less  than  100. 

Many  of  these  synagogues  were  organized  originally  by  old 
world  neighborhood  groups  as  mutual  benefit  and  cultural 
societies,  but  as  they  grew  in  numbers  developed  into  religious 
organizat  ons.  There  are  many  of  these  named  after  Russian 
towns  and  provinces  from  which  the  members  have  come. 
The  smaller  congregations  that  are  without  synagogoues  are 
called  Chevras.  They  usually  meet  in  a  private  house  or  small 
hall  appropriately  fitted  up  for  religious  services. 

The  older  Jews  and  the  middle  aged  Jews  who  have  recently 
arrived,  are  most  devout  and  faithful  to  the  traditions  and 
customs  of  the  race.  But  the  younger  generation  have  largely 
given  up  the  observances  of  the  fathers.  This  is  partly  due  to 
intellectual  doubts,  but  principally  to  American  commercial 
arrangements,  which  make  necessary  the  giving  up  of  many 
old  world  customs.  A  South  Street  merchant  replied  to  the 
question  as  to  why  the  Jewish  stores  were  not  closed  on  Satur- 
day by  saying,  it  was  one  of  their  best  days  for  business. 

The  younger  Jews  are  not  interested  in  the  synagogue  ser- 
vices. Very  few  of  them  were  seen  at  any  of  the  synagogues. 
The  services  are  all  in  Yiddish,  and  have  no  practical  bearing 
on  the  problems  of  today,  in  which  the  young  people  are  es- 
pecially interested.  More  of  the  younger  Hebrews  may  be 
found  in  the  literary  and  other  cultural  societies,  than  in  the 
synagogues,  their  interest  being  plainly  intellectual  rather  than 
religious. 

The  plea  of  those  who  describe  the  religious  conditions 
among  the  Jews  of  New  York,  Philadelphia,  and  Chicago,  in 
the  volume,  the  "Russian  Jew  in  the  United  States,"^  for 
synagogues  for  the  young  with  services  in  English,  and  an 
adaptation  of  the  services  to  present  day  needs,  would  seem  to 
be  a  very  reasonable  one.  The  old  synagogues  will  be  sustained 
so  long  as  immigration  from  the  old  countries  continues,  but 
there  seems  every  likelihood  that  the  younger  and  American 
Jews  will  satisfy  their  religious  aspirations  in  other  ways. 

^  Bernheimer,  Charles,  "  The  Russian  Jew  in  the  United  States. " 


The  Down-town  Churches  of  Philadelphia  8i 

12.  Summary  of  Changes 

The  Roman  Catholic  Church  presents  a  strong  contrast  to 
the  Protestant  Church,  in  the  stability  of  its  institutions  in  the 
down-town  districts.  Of  the  iii  Protestant  churches  or  relig- 
ious organizations  in  this  district  in  1880,  44  moved  out  of  the 
district,  to  locations  more  favorable  to  growth;  14  became 
extinct;  3  lost  their  identity  through  being  merged  with  other 
organizations;  while  4  were  taken  under  the  care  of  denomina- 
tional boards,  being  no  longer  self-supporting.  During  this 
same  period  not  one  of  the  Catholic  churches  became  extinct 
or  changed  its  location.  Many  of  the  Protestant  churches 
which  remain  are  in  a  state  of  disrepair  and  dilapidation,  and 
present  an  appearance  of  weakness  and  decadence.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  Catholic  church  buildings  are  usually  large 
and  stately,  are  kept  in  good  repair,  and  have  the  aspect  of 
strength  and  stability.  Most  of  the  Protestant  churches 
which  remain  are  weak  in  numbers  and  financial  resources, 
and  their  services  are  poorly  attended,  but  the  Catholic 
churches,  though  their  constituency  is  smaller,  do  not  present 
the  same  aspect  of  weakness,  their  services  being  well-attended, 
and  their  institutions  being  liberally  supported. 

It  is  true,  some  other  organizations  have  arisen  in  the  place 
of  the  Protestant  institutions  that  for  one  cause  or  another  have 
disappeared.  The  Baptist  Church  has  several  small  non-Eng- 
lish speaking  churches;  the  Methodists  have  a  rescue  mission 
hall,  a  settlement,  and  a  deaconess  house;  the  Presbyterians 
have  a  vigorous  organization  among  the  Italians,  a  settlement, 
and  a  mission  to  the  Jews;  the  Episcopalians  have  an  Italian 
church,  a  rescue  mission,  and  a  church  for  the  deaf;  the  Luther- 
ans have  two  new  church  organizations,  and  the  Negroes  four 
in  the  district.  But  the  losses  of  the  Protestant  Church  far 
overbalance  the  gains  in  this  district,  during  the  period  covered 
by  this  investigation. 

Individual  churches  have  maintained  their  power  and  effici- 
ency, and  are  today  performing  successfully  their  function. 
But  the  general  record  is  one  of  failure.  The  Protestant  Church 
in  the  down-town  districts  has  become  a  factor  of  diminishing 
importance  in  social  causation. 


82  The  Down-town  Church 

The  population  of  this  district  has  remained  fairly  constant 
during  this  whole  period.  The  people  still  swarm  around  the 
churches.  We  believe  the  people  still  need  the  message  and  the 
ministries,  for  which  the  Church  presumably  exists.  Why 
then  have  so  many  churches  failed  to  get  a  response?  We 
shall  seek  for  the  explanation  in  the  following  chapter. 


CHAPTER  V 

Causes   for  the    Decadence  of  the  Down-Town  Church 

The  causes  for  this  decline  in  the  number,  power,  and 
efficiency  of  the  Protestant  churches  in  the  down-town  dis- 
trict are  numerous  and  complex.  In  a  population  as  heterogen- 
eous as  that  of  the  district  under  investigation,  no  cause  will 
apply  with  equal  force  to  every  group.  Causes  that  operate 
among  people  of  one  condition  or  tradition  will  not  be  operative 
at  all  among  those  of  other  conditions  and  racial  inheritance. 
Some  causes  that  are  more  general  will  be  found  to  apply  with 
unequal  force  to  different  classes.  There  are  other  causes 
which  affect  only  a  few  individuals.  It  shall  be  our  purpose 
to  discover  the  causes  which  are  most  generally  operative,  and 
which  are  most  significant  in  explaining  the  facts  of  the  pre- 
ceding chapter. 

Before  stating  these  more  important  factors  it  may  be  of 
value  to  consider  a  few  of  the  subordinate  causes  which  are 
often  given  in  explanation,  but  which  we  believe  to  be  wholly 
inadequate. 

The  natural  perversity  of  slum-dwellers  is  often  given  as  a 
cause  of  religious  indifference  by  those  who  would  explain  the 
weakness  of  the  church  in  such  sections.  There  is  no  doubt 
that  certain  quarters  of  the  down-town  city  shelter  a  large 
element  of  the  vicious  and  criminal  class.  Those  that  pander 
to  lust  and  make  profit  out  of  vicious  appetites,  prostitutes, 
gamblers,  and  other  types  of  the  vicious  and  depraved,  tend  to 
congregate  in  this  part  of  the  city.  Many  of  the  homeless 
men  who  live  in  lodging-houses  are  known  to  be  tramps  and 
criminals.  There  are  others  whose  practices  are  not  in  har- 
mony with  the  ideals  of  the  church. 

There  are  those  also  with  a  restless  thirst  for  pleasure,  to 
whom  worship  seems  a  routine  of  utter  tedium,  and  who  have 
a  positive  hatred  of  high  ideals.     "There  is  a  natural  repug- 

83 


84  The  Down-town  Church 

nance  of  the  frivolous,  sensual,  selfish  soul  to  facing  thoughts 
of  duty,  self-sacrifice,  eternity,  God.  To  contemplate  how- 
ever woodenly  and  far-off  the  white  Perfectness  of  the  Object 
of  Worship,  is  to  make  the  self-loving  worshiper  conscious  of 
his  stains  and  spots,  and  consequently  most  uncomfortable, 
and  naturally  he  avoids  this  occasion  of  discomfort.  There 
are  many  who  have  so  far  atrophied  their  finer  sense,  that  the 
great  words  and  deeds  of  Religion  have  to  them  simply  no 
meaning."^ 

But  admitting  the  vicious  tendencies  of  some,  and  the  un- 
ethical practices  of  others,  to  whom  the  ideals  of  the  church  are 
repugnant,  we  cannot  believe  that  this  cause  is  more  operative 
among  the  people  of  the  down-town  districts  than  among  those 
of  the  higher  classes.  Where  social  considerations  do  not  enter 
in  to  counteract  the  natural  distaste  for  religion  and  church 
worship,  we  shall  find  "natural  perversity  and  sinful  propen- 
sity" operating  as  strongly  against  church  attendance  in  the 
suburbs  as   the   slum. 

While  this  cause  is  contributory  to  the  neglect  of  the  down- 
town church,  it  could  more  properly  be  assigned  as  a  cause  for 
the  neglect  of  religion  among  all  classes. 

"Outworn  creeds"  is  another  reason  sometimes  given  for 
the  decline  of  the  down-town  church.  But  while  certain  in- 
dividuals may  assign  this  as  their  reason  for  the  neglect  of  the 
church,  it  is  a  reason  which  is  applicable  to  other  classes  more 
especially  than  to  those  under  consideration. 

As  we  shall  see,  certain  classes  of  workmen  have  substituted 
Socialism  and  other  systems  of  social  reform  for  the  church, 
and  with  their  new  allegiance  have  discarded  all  traditional 
beliefs,  but  the  number  is  not  large.  It  is  true  of  all  classes 
that  few  individuals  stop  to  think  out  new  systems  of  belief,  or 
to  organize  their  conceptions  into  creeds  and  it  is  especially 
true  of  the  vast  majority  of  the  people  of  the  down-town  dis- 
trict. The  lack  of  leisure  and  of  initiative,  and  the  hard  condi- 
tions of  life,  make  a  revolt  against  new  systems  of  thought 
most  improbable. 

The  hold  of  the  Catholic  church  upon  its  people,  as  we  have 
indicated,  would  seem  to  prove  that  the  more  dogmatic  the 

*  F.  Herbert  Stead,  in  Non-Church-Going,  Its  Reasons  and  Remedies,  p.  85. 


Causes  for  the  Decadence  of  the  Down-town  Church         85 

position  of  the  church,  and  the  more  uncompromising  it  is  in 
its  demands,  the  greater  is  its  influence  among  the  people  of 
this  class. 

The  appeal  to  the  down-town  population  must  be  to  the 
feelings,  rather  than  the  intellect.  Any  revolt,  therefore,  is 
likely  to  be  a  revolt  of  the  heart  rather  than  the  head.  The 
lack  of  interest  in  the  church  is  due  more  to  weakened  will- 
power, than  increased  brain-power. 

As  great  as  this  cause  may  be  among  certain  classes,  there  is 
little  evidence  that  it  operates  with  any  force  among  the  classes 
of  the  down-town  city. 

It  has  been  contended  also  that  there  is  a  general  decline  in 
religious  interest  and  church  attendance,  and  that  the  de- 
cadence of  the  down-town  church  is  merely  symptomatic  of 
general  religious  conditions. 

The  paucity  and  unreliability  of  church  statistics  make  it 
very  difficult  to  compare  church  attendance  and  church  mem- 
bership of  today  with  that  of  preceding  eras.  There  is,  how- 
ever, a  wide-spread  conviction  that  the  church  is  losing  its  hold 
upon  people,  that  an  ever  increasing  percentage  of  the  popula- 
tion does  not  respond  to  the  appeals  of  religion.  Richard  Heath^ 
gives  numerous  statistics  to  prove  an  "approaching  eclipse  of 
the  churches"  in  England  and  the  Continent.  Dr.  Josiah 
Strong^  and  Dr.  E.  T.  Root^  give  similar  statistics  which 
would  seem  to  indicate  a  very  decided  falling  off  in  church  at- 
tendance and  church  influence  in  this  country.  Much  is  being 
written  about  the  unsatisfactory  condition  of  the  church  in 
rural  communities.  Other  studies  intimate  that  there  is  a 
growing  indifference  on  the  part  of  the  educated  and  professional 
classes  toward  the  church. 

But  the  recent  religious  census  indicates  that  the  progress  of 
the  churches  since  the  census  of  1890  has  been  quite  satisfac- 
tory. During  the  decade  and  a  half,  the  membership  of  re- 
ligious bodies  increased  60.4%,  while  the  population  increased 
33.8%.     In  1890,  32.7%  of  the  entire  population  was  included 


1  Richard  Heath,  The  Captive  City  of  God,  Chapter  i. 

*  Josiah  Strong,  Delineator,  Oct.,  1909,  p.  294,  also  in  Bliss,  Enc.  Soc.  Ref. 
Art.,  "Church  and  Workingmen. " 

» E.  T.  Root  Delineator,  Oct.,  1909,  p.  457-9- 


86  The  Down-town  Church 

in  religious  organizations;  in  1906,  the  proportion  had  reached 
39.1%.  As  Prof.  Coe  remarks  in  commenting  upon  these 
figures,  "These  facts  hardly  bear  out  the  assumption  that  is 
often  made,  that  the  churches  are  losing  their  hold  on  the 
people.  Immigration  accounts  for  a  part  of  the  absolute  in- 
crease, and  births  for  another  part,  but  neither  of  these  ac- 
counts for  the  relative  increase,  as  compared  with  the  popula- 
tion. This  is  particularly  clear  of  the  Protestant  increase."^ 
In  every  particular  except  in  the  number  of  religious  organiza- 
tions, the  rate  of  increase  in  religious  bodies  has  exceeded  the 
rate  of  increase  in  the  population. 

To  say  that  the  decline  of  the  down-town  church  is  a  part 
of  the  general  decline  in  religious  belief  and  church  attendance, 
is  therefore  not  adequate.  It  rests  upon  an  assumption  which 
is  not  proven.  Even  if  a  falling  off  in  church  membership  had 
been  indicated  by  the  last  census,  it  might  readily  be  shown 
that  the  decline  among  the  down-town  churches  has  been  so 
much  greater  than  that  among  other  groups  of  the  population, 
as  to  necessitate  other  explanations. 

What,  then,  are  the  causes  that  have  been  most  operative  in 
weakening  the  churches  in  the  down-town  districts  of  our  cities? 

I.  Change  in  the  Character  of  the  Population. 

The  first  and  most  obvious  cause  for  the  decadence  of  the 
Church  in  these  sections  is  the  change  in  the  character  of  the 
population. 

There  is  not  a  down-town  district  in  any  city  of  considerable 
size  in  America,  but  has  undergone  during  the  past  quarter- 
century,  transformations,  tremendous  and  significant.  A  set- 
tlement worker  of  Boston  speaking  of  the  changes  that  have 
taken  place  in  the  North  and  West  Ends  of  that  city,  writes: 
"About  1880  there  came  a  marked  change  in  the  character  of 
the  immigration.  Since  then,  so  rapid  a  transformation  has 
been  produced,  that  even  old  inhabitants,  daily  witnesses  of 
the  scenes  have  been  startled  at  times. '"^ 

The  most  significant  change  from  the  viewpoint  of  religious 
institutions  is  the  change  from  predominantly  Protestant,  to 

*  American  Journal  of  Sociology,  15:  pp.  806-7. 
'  Americans  in  Process,  p.  43. 


Causes  for  the  Decadence  of  the  Down-town  Church         87 

predominantly  Catholic  and  Jewish  traditions,  customs,  and  in- 
stitutions. 

The  lower  east  side  of  New  York  has  in  an  incredibly  short 
time  become  the  largest  Jewish  center  in  the  world.  Other 
large  sections  are  given  up  almost  wholly  to  Italian  and  other 
foreign-speaking  groups. 

In  1880  there  were  less  than  1000  Italians  in  the  North  End 
of  Boston,  and  only  125  in  the  West  End.  In  the  whole  of 
both  districts  there  were  only  a  few  hundred  Jews,  and  they 
mostly  German.  But  the  writer  above  quoted  adds:  "The 
story  of  immigration  into  Boston  for  the  last  twenty-five  years 
is  for  the  most  part  an  influx  of  Jews  and  Italians,  followed  by 
more  Jews  and  Italians.  "^  Today,  these  two  elements  so  pre- 
dominate in  these  sections,  that  Protestant  churches  appear 
anomalous. 

In  Chapter  III,  we  have  indicated  the  change  in  the  charac- 
ter of  the  population  in  the  down-town  districts  of  Philadelphia. 

Alien  peoples  of  strange  tongues,  and  stranger  customs,  with 
different  ideals  and  with  institutions  of  their  own,  have  taken 
possession  of  these  old  centers  and  have  literally  driven  out  the 
former  inhabitants.  No  invasion  was  ever  more  complete  or 
far-reaching   in   its   consequences. 

Some  of  the  institutions  found  by  the  new  settlers  were  rec- 
ognized as  of  value  to  them,  and  were  eagerly  made  use  of,  to 
achieve  their  ends. 

Political  institutions  offered  an  opportunity  to  participate  in 
government,  made  an  appeal  to  the  nobility  inherent  in  man, 
and  the  newcomers  rapidly  adjusted  themselves  to  the  condi- 
tions of  the  franchise. 

The  schools,  it  was  at  once  recognized,  offered  the  quickest 
method  to  the  acquirement  of  the  language,  to  an  understand- 
ing of  the  new  institutions,  and  thus  to  economic  advantage, 
and  the  opportunities  of  the  schools  were  seized  with  avidity. 

Not  so  however  with  the  churches.  There  is  no  prejudice 
so  deep-seated,  no  institution  given  up  with  such  reluctance, 
no  customs  that  are  so  difficult  to  change  as  the  religious.  Re- 
ligious beliefs  are  always  reinforced  by  supernatural  sanctions, 
enjoy  the  veneration  which  always  attaches  to  the  ancient  and 
the  ancestral,  and  are  therefore  the  last  to  be  given  up. 

'  Ibid.,  p.  44. 


88  The  Down-town  Church 

The  churches  founded  by  the  Anglo-Saxon  and  North  Euro- 
pean settlers  and  their  descendants  in  America,  therefore  made 
no  appeal  to  the  hordes  of  South  and  East  Europe  who  had  been 
educated  to  very  different  conceptions  of  religion  and  the 
church. 

To  the  Jew,  the  Christian  Church  stood  for  persecution. 
He  made  no  distinction  between  the  Christian  Church  in  Amer- 
ica and  the  Christian  Church  in  Russia.  To  the  Greek  and 
Roman  Catholic,  the  Protestant  churches  which  they  found 
with  crossless  spires,  bare  interiors,  and  simple  services  ap- 
peared schismatic  and  heretical.  They  offered  no  induce- 
ments to  the  new-comers.     Rather  did  they  offer  an  irritant. 

The  result  was  naturally,  owing  to  the  removal  of  their  for- 
mer constituency,  that  the  Protestant  churches  were  left  with- 
out support,  to  become  extinct,  to  move  to  more  favorable 
localities,  or  to  be  converted  into  institutions  that  would  not 
excite  the  prejudices  of  the  new  groups. 

Thus  we  see  churches  that  once  flourished,  crumbling  within 
a  generation  into  ruin,  standing  like  old  feudal  castles  in  lonely 
protest  against  the  changes  going  on  about  them,  yet  powerless 
to  stop  them. 

The  Protestant  churches  get  but  a  feeble  response  from  the 
Protestant  population  of  this  district.  They  make  practically 
no  impression  on  those  of  other  faiths. 

A  second  change  in  the  character  of  the  population  of  the 
down-town  districts  during  the  past  quarter-century,  is  the 
change  from  economic  independence  to  economic  dependence. 
With  the  exception  of  the  small  shop-keepers,  practically  all 
the  people  of  this  district  are  now  dependent  upon  daily  wages, 
and  instead  of  being  owners  of  homes,  nearly  all  are  renters. 

This  difference  in  the  economic  condition  of  the  population 
has  had  a  very  decided  influence  on  the  support  and  prosperity 
of  the  churches. 

It  is  a  widely  observed  fact,  that  the  Protestant  Church  ap- 
peals largely  to  the  upper  and  upper-middle  classes.  It  has 
never  been  able  to  compete  successfully  with  the  Catholic 
Church  among  the  poor  and  lower  middle  classes.  With  the 
exodus  of  the  higher  classes  from  the  neighborhood  the  Pro- 
testant churches  lost  their  constituency,  and  being  unable  to 


Causes  for  the  Decadence  of  the  Down-town  Church         89 

overcome  the  prejudices  of  the  lower  classes,  have  been  forced 
to  abandon  either  their  fields  or  their  methods.  Those  that 
still  remain  in  this  district,  with  a  few  exceptions  that  have  been 
noted,  are  largely  dependent  upon  the  loyalty  and  generosity 
of  members  who  still  attend  from  outside  the  district. 

Another  element  connected  with  the  change  in  economic 
position  of  the  population,  and  one  which  we  intend  to  con- 
sider more  fully  in  a  later  section,  is  the  hostility  of  a  consider- 
able proportion  of  laboring  men  toward  the  Church.  This  ap- 
plies especially  to  the  skilled  workmen,  that  are  to  be  found  in 
the  district.  There  is  much  suspicion  on  the  part  of  this  class 
against  the  Church.  They  have  been  led  to  believe  that  it  is 
attended  and  supported  largely  by  the  capitalistic  class,  and 
that  it  is  a  tool  in  the  hands  of  that  class  to  make  the  workman 
satisfied  with  his  lot,  and  thus  to  stifle  his  aspirations,  and  hinder 
his  efforts  to  improve  his  status. 

Whatever  truth  there  may  be  in  the  charge,  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  it  has  alienated  a  considerable  part  of  the  popula- 
tion of  this  district  from  the  Church. 

Another  change  in  the  character  of  this  district  is  that  from 
family  life,  to  detached  and  semi-detached  life. 

There  is  scarcely  a  house  in  all  this  district  that  was  not 
built  originally  for  one  family,  and  until  recently,  occupied  by 
one  family.  But  today  many  of  these  old  houses  have  been 
converted  into  tenements. 

The  writer  has  been  in  not  a  few  of  them,  in  which  the  solid 
wood-work,  the  marble  mantels,  and  the  spacious  halls,  be- 
token a  past  refinement,  culture,  and  wealth  in  the  occupants, 
of  which  there  are  no  traces  today — old  homes  converted  into 
"furnished-room  apartments"  of  the  worst  description,  where 
family  life  is  almost  destroyed  because  of  the  over-crowding. 

Many  more  of  these  old  houses  are  now  being  used  for  board- 
ing-houses, where  young  men  and  young  women  from  rural 
communities  have  easy  access  to  their  employment,  but  in 
which  they  live  wholly  detached  lives,  and  are  removed  from 
the  restraints  and  refinements  of  family-life. 

Many  of  these  old  houses  are  still  occupied  by  single  families, 
but  the  impression  that  one  gets  from  the  numerous  lodging- 
houses,  boarding-houses,  and   furnished-room  houses,  and  es- 


90  The  Down-town  Church 

pecially  from  the  overcrowding  that  is  apparent  everywhere, 
is  that  family-life  is  destroyed.  The  only  exception  to  this 
general  social  condition  is  among  the  Jews,  where  the  preser- 
vation of  family-life  has  come  down  as  one  of  the  religious 
traditions  of  the  race. 

It  is  impossible  to  estimate  the  seriousness  of  this  change 
in  the  social  life  of  the  population  for  the  Protestant  Church, 
which  has  always  depended  upon  the  conservation  of  religious 
life  in  the  family  for  its  growth.  The  churches  themselves  have 
been  built  for  family  worship,  and  little  effort  has  been  made 
until  recently  to  influence  populations  other  than  by  families. 

The  Catholic  Church  by  the  parochial  school  is  providing  a 
substitute  for  the  religious  training  of  the  child  in  the  home. 
But  the  Protestant  Church  has  provided  no  substitute,  and 
with  the  gradual  elimination  of  religious  exercises  and  instruc- 
tion from  the  public  schools,  the  religious  education  of  the  Pro- 
testant child,  save  in  exceptional  instances,  is  practically  nil. 
Unless  a  bias  in  favor  of  some  church  is  given  a  child  in  its  im- 
pressionable years,  it  is  not  likely  to  recognize  in  the  church  an 
indispensable  institution  when  it  grows  to  maturer  years. 

The  lack  of  early  insistence  upon  religious  duty  in  the  family, 
the  freedom  from  restraint  which  comes  to  one  leading  a  de- 
tached life,  from  which  there  easily  follows  an  indifference  to 
the  call  of  the  higher  life,  combined  with  the  lack  of  compelling 
attractiveness  in  the  churches  themselves,  have  wrought  dis- 
aster for  the  Protestant  churches  in  the  down-town  districts, 
and  help  to  account  in  no  small  measure  for  the  decadence  that 
we  have  observed. 

These  changes  in  the  population  of  this  section  have  made 
many  problems  more  complex  and  created  some  new  ones. 
It  has  made  the  problem  of  honest  and  efiicient  city  govern- 
ment more  difficult,  has  created  problems  of  education,  hous- 
ing, sanitation,  and  public  health.  But  certainly  no  well- 
established  institution  of  a  generation  ago  has  felt  the  change 
more  perceptibly  than  the  Protestant  Church. 

2.  Adverse  Environment 

The  second  cause  for  the  decadence  of  the  down-town  church 
is  to  be  found  in  the  unfavorable  environment  of  these  old  city 


Causes  for  the  Decadence  of  the  Down-town  Church         91 

districts.  Low  wages,  unsteady  employment,  unsanitary  fac- 
tories and  homes,  and  low  standards  of  living  are  not  conducive 
to  religious  life,  and  therefore  churches  in  such  districts  tend  to 
languish  and  die. 

There  is  on  the  part  of  some  laboring  men  as  has  been  claimed, 
a  resentment  against  the  church  as  a  class  institution,  and 
doubtless  some  remain  out  of  the  church  because  they  disbe- 
lieve the  creeds  of  the  church.  But  these  reasons  affect  the 
highly  intelligent  and  skilled  workmen,  not  the  majority  of 
those  whose  homes  we  find  in  this  district.  The  indifference  to 
the  church  on  the  part  of  dwellers  in  the  slums,  we  believe  has 
a  physical  rather  than  a  mental  basis.  It  is  the  result  of  fa- 
tigue rather  than  argument,  of  the  hard  conditions  of  life, 
rather  than  the  philosophies  of  scholars. 

Religion  depends  for  its  development  upon  an  appreciation 
of  the  beautiful  and  the  true  in  conduct  and  creed.  But  the 
man  who  works  long  hours  at  exhausting  labor  has  neither  the 
desire  nor  the  ability  to  cultivate  a  love  for  the  higher  things  of 
life.  He  is  much  more  likely  to  enter  a  saloon  than  a  church, 
for  it  is  stimulant  that  he  craves,  not  illumination. 

The  conditions  of  the  slum  tend  to  destroy  character,  and 
weaken  every  faculty  of  the  soul.  The  man  who  is  forced  to 
think  of  his  children  only  as  economic  units,  cannot  develop 
his  heart  affections,  and  it  would  be  unreasonable  to  expect  the 
children  to  do  so  either.  The  family  that  lives  in  one  or  two 
rooms  cannot  be  expected  to  develop  ideas  of  purity  or  virtue; 
and  the  individual  who  never  has  any  leisure  to  read,  or  to  visit 
the  parks,  but  who  lives  the  days  and  the  years  through,  under 
the  gray  monotony  of  his  work  and  his  tenement,  cannot  be 
expected  to  become  an  idealist.  "Poverty  compels  the  poor  to 
be  selfish  and  to  live  for  the  present." 

Whatever  may  be  the  origin  of  the  religious  impulse,  it  is 
apparent  that  it  does  not  develop  except  under  favoring  con- 
ditions. 

Modern  missionary  methods  are  based  on  this  principle. 
Evangelistic  work  is  but  one  of  several  departments  of  effort  in 
well-equipped  mission  stations  today.  It  is  supplemented  and 
its  success  is  made  possible,  by  educational  work,  sanitary  and 
medicinal  effort,  and  instruction  in  the  means  and  methods  of 
economic  betterment. 


92  The  Down-town  Church 

The  Salvation  Army  early  recognized  the  futility  of  its  efforts 
in  "converting  souls"  and  then  allowing  them  to  continue  in 
the  same  social  and  economic  environment.  The  founder, 
therefore,  elaborated  a  scheme^  for  the  creation  of  social  insti- 
tutions, which  has  become  so  far  actualized,  that  the  social  work 
of  the  Salvation  Army  today  eclipses  in  interest  and  importance 
the  evangelistic.^ 

The  qualities  of  mind  and  soul  which  make  one  responsive 
to  the  religious  appeal,  cannot  develop  where  vitality  is  low  and 
will-power  is  correspondingly  weak ;  where  home  life  is  unknown 
and  the  affections  are  therefore  dwarfed;  where  art,  music, 
and  the  beauties  of  nature  are  wanting  and  the  aesthetic  powers 
are  undeveloped;  where  the  conditions  of  life  are  so  hard,  and 
the  obstacles  to  improvement  of  one's  condition  are  so  insup- 
erable, that  idealism  is  impossible. 

The  attitude  of  the  very  poor  toward  religion  is  not  one  of 
antagonism,  but  of  indifference.  Religion  simply  makes  no 
appeal  to  them.  There  is  nothing  left  to  respond  to  the  higher 
call.  Poverty,  foul  air,  and  poor  nourishment,  have  stifled  re- 
ligious aspirations.  Unconsciously,  they  have  sunk  to  animal- 
ism, and  the  sensual  alone  makes  an  appeal  strong  enough  to 
elicit  response. 

Charles  Booth  in  his  account  of  the  religious  life  of  London,^ 
gives  striking  proof  of  this  contention,  that  the  environment 
of  the  slum  is  distinctly  unfavorable  to  religious  life.  In  neigh- 
borhoods where  wealthy  and  middle-class  people  predominate, 
the  condition  of  the  churches  is  very  satisfactory.  But  in  the 
poorer  districts,  church  attendance  is  most  unsatisfactory — 
indifference  to  religious  institutions  being  the  prevailing  charac- 
teristic. 

In  Bermondsey,  he  says,  "the  religious  indifference  is  simply 
appalling"  and  attributes  it  to  "the  moral,  social  and  economic 
conditions  under  which  the  people  live — to  the  poverty,  and  over- 
crowding, to  the  long  and  ill-paid  hours  of  labor;  to  the  intem- 


^  Booth,  William,  In  Darkest  England  and  the  Way  Out. 

^  See  H.  Rider  Haggard,  Regeneration;  also  Manson,  The  Salvation  Army 
and  the  Public. 

*  Booth,  Charles,  Life  and  Labor  in  London,  Part  III.  Religious  Influences, 
Volumes  I  to  VII. 


Causes  for  the  Decadence  of  the  Down-town  Church         93 

perance  and  thrif tlessness ;  to  the  general  dingy  and  hopeless 
aspect  of  many  lives." 

In  the  district  which  includes  Bow,  Bromley,  Poplar,  Lime- 
house,  Mile  End,  and  Bethnal  Green,  he  says,  "few  go  to  church 
or  recognize  religion  by  any  outward  sign.  The  Non-Con- 
formist churches  have  changed  into  missions,  and  the  Anglican 
churches  have  elaborately  organized  their  parishes.  Nowhere 
has  the  zeal  of  the  clergy  been  greater,  or  their  devotion  more 
evident,  but  all  these  things  have  failed  to  overcome  the  deter- 
mination of  the  people  of  the  East  End  not  to  come  to  church." 

Of  Hoxton  he  writes,  "Tested  by  attendance  at  church,  we 
everywhere  find  small  congregations,  sometimes  hardly  any 
congregations  at  all,  and  those  who  come  are  of  ten  old  parishion- 
ers from  a  distance.  As  to  the  mass  of  residents  in  Hoxton, 
we  hear  without  contradiction,  that  not  one  grown-up  person 
in  thirty,  or  some  say,  not  one  in  fifty,  and  some  again,  not  one 
in  eighty,  attends  any  religious  service.  If  church-going  is  to 
be  the  test,  we  have  in  this  a  practical  record  of  failure.  The 
churches  are  High,  Low,  and  Moderate.  Everything  is  tried, 
and  with  modifications  and  partial  success  proportioned  to  the 
freshness  and  enthusiasm  imported  into  the  work,  everything 
fails.  "1 

Richard  Heath^  gives  a  list  of  London  Boroughs  in  the  order 
and  degree  in  which  the  population  attends  the  Anglican  church, 
and  his  conclusion  is,  that  "irreligion  and  indifference  are  in 
almost  exact  proportion  to  the  more  or  less  working-class 
character  of  each  district." 

No  such  investigations  of  religious  conditions  and  of  church 
attendance  have  been  made  in  America.  But  the  decadence  of 
the  down-town  church,  as  compared  with  its  strength  in  more 
favored  localities,  would  seem  to  indicate  that  the  same  influ- 
ences produce  the  same  effects. 

To  the  depressing  influence  of  the  hard  conditions  and  low 
standards  of  living  upon  church  attendance  and  religious  prog- 
ress, should  also  be  added,  the  influence  of  the  counter  attrac- 
tions which  abound  in  the  down-town  districts.  At  the  very 
time  that  the  response  to  the  higher  life  is  weakening,  and  the 

^Ihid.,  Vol.  II,  pp.  1 1 7-8. 

«  Heath,  Richard,  The  Captive  City  of  God,  p.  56. 


94  The  Down-town  Church 

power  of  resistance  to  anti-social  and  anti-religious  forces  is 
becoming  more  feeble,  institutions  which  appeal  largely  to  the 
lower  passions  are  increasing.  The  enticements  to  sensual  in- 
dulgence are  both  more  numerous  and  more  inviting  than  the  en- 
couragements to  worship.  The  church  cannot  hope  to  compete 
with  the  saloon,  the  cheap  theatre,  and  the  brilliancy  and  ex- 
citement of  "the  great  white  way"  among  people  who  are 
over-worked,  and  under-nourished,  whose  nervous  system  calls 
for  stimulant,  and  whose  only  pleasure  can  therefore  be  sen- 
sual rather  than  spiritual. 

The  efforts  of  the  Church  to  evangelize  the  down-town  sec- 
tions by  preaching  services  cannot  be  other,  therefore,  than 
disappointing.  The  whole  gamut  of  causes  that  make  slums, 
which  destroy  vitality,  and  which  lead  to  vice  and  crime,  must 
be  removed.  In  other  words,  an  environment  favorable  to 
religious  life  must  supercede  the  environment  now  prevailing, 
before  the  down-town  church  can  achieve  any  large  success. 

J.  Class  Consciousness 

A  third  cause  for  the  decline  of  the  down-town  Protestant 
Church  is  to  be  found  in  the  feeling  of  antagonism  toward  the 
church  as  a  class  institution.  Among  the  poorer  classes,  it  is 
a  feeling  of  shame  and  social  subordination  due  to  shabbier 
clothing  and  deficient  education.  Among  the  more  intelligent 
skilled  workmen,  it  is  a  feeling  of  antagonism  due  to  their  sus- 
picion that  the  Church  is  the  champion  of  the  capitalistic  class 
and  the  defender  of  things  as  they  are. 

"Explain  it  as  we  may,  the  industrial  classes  have  come  to 
look  upon  the  church  as  the  true  home  of  caste  and  snobbery. 
.  .  .  The  worker  finds  the  whole  atmosphere  of  the  church  un- 
congenial. He  really  believes,  rightly  or  wrongly,  that  he  is 
not  wanted.  To  enter  a  place  of  worship  is  to  be  surrounded 
by  well-dressed  people  with  whom  he  cannot  even  claim  a  bow- 
ing acquaintance.  His  most  vivid  impression  of  a  church,  is 
the  refined  exclusiveness  of  his  fellow-worshippers.  He  knows 
about  the  Christian  ideal  of  human  brotherhood,  but  can  find 
little  trace  of  its  influence  in  the  lives  of  professing  Christians."^ 

Dr.  R.  F.  Horton  speaking  of  conditions  in  London,  says, 

^  W.  Forbes  Gray,  Non-Church  Going,  Its  Causes  and  Its  Remedies,  p.  23. 


Causes  for  the  Decadence  of  the  Down-town  Church         95 

"Putting  the  drink  influence  aside,  I  cannot  but  think  that  the 
next  most  serious  hindrance  to  the  christian  Hfe  of  our  working 
people,  is  the  curious  caste  feeHng  which  pervades  EngHsh 
society,  and  creeps  into  the  churches.  ...  it  is  the  destruc- 
tion of  brotherhood.  A  subtle  class  distinction  keeps  men 
apart.  In  the  social  hierarchy,  each  grade  suspects  the  cordial- 
ity of  the  one  above  it.  A  difference  of  manners  and  etiquette 
makes  people  in  one  grade  think  they  are  slighted,  or  insulted 
by  people  in  another.  They  who  have  never  waited  for  an  in- 
troduction to  mates,  cannot  understand  the  attitude  of  those 
who  have  been  brought  up  never  to  speak  to  others  without 
being  introduced.  What  in  one  grade  is  held  to  be  refinement, 
seems  to  another  affectation.  The  courtesy  of  one  rank  seems 
coldness  to  another.  .  .  .  An  immense  proportion  of  the  sober 
well-meaning  people  who  never  go  to  church  once  went,  and 
they  gave  up  the  practice  because  they  were  not  wanted,  as 
they  put  it."^ 

Most  of  the  down-town  Protestant  churches  of  Philadelphia 
are  still  made  up  mainly  of  well-dressed,  well-to-do  people,  who 
come  largely  from  outside  the  district.  In  some  of  these, 
especially  at  the  morning  service,  poorly-dressed  people  would 
feel  out  of  place,  and  would  not  be  likely  to  be  welcomed  or 
invited  to  return  with  a  cordiality  that  would  elicit  a  response. 

In  one  of  the  Presbyterian  churches,  the  pastor  admitted 
that  the  existence  of  a  few  of  the  old  families  in  his  church 
made  his  work  among  the  people  of  the  neighborhood  difficult, 
and  he  was  hoping  for  their  early  retirement.  In  others,  that 
are  less  aggressive,  it  is  evident  that  the  existence  of  well-to-do 
cultured  people  is  having  a  paralyzing  effect  upon  their  work 
and  influence  in  the  community. 

The  rich  and  the  poor  do  not  meet  together,  though  the  Lord 
is  their  common  maker.  The  Catholic  churches  seem  more 
democratic  in  this  respect  than  the  Protestant.  But  the  pro- 
vision of  earlier  and  later  masses,  the  former  attended  largely 
by  the  poorer  classes  and  the  latter  by  the  wealthier,  disguises 
the  cleavage  which  really  exists. 

It  was  the  glory  and  the  miracle  of  the  early  church,  that  at 
a  time  when  race  antipathy  and  social  distinctions  were  much 

*  Haw,  Christianity  and  the  Working  Classes,  pp.  89-90. 


96  The  Down-town  Church 

more  pronounced  than  now,  the  "middle  wall  of  partition  was 
broken  down"  and  Jew  and  Gentile  shared  in  the  common 
eucharistic  meal.  And  theoretically,  the  church  is  still  a  place 
where  rich  and  poor,  the  educated  and  the  illiterate,  share  in 
the  same  aspirations,  struggles  and  hopes.  But  with  a  few  ex- 
ceptions we  do  not  find  this  an  actuality.  The  rich  and  the 
poor,  the  well-dressed  and  the  poorly  attired,  may  indeed  be  a 
part  of  the  same  congregation,  but  very  seldom  is  there  ever 
seen  that  cordial  intercourse  between  them  which  would  be- 
token actual  democracy  or  real  brotherhood. 

The  pew-rental  and  pew-vending  systems,  which  are  now 
happily  coming  into  disfavor  as  methods  of  church  finance,  did 
much  to  foster  class  feeling,  and  to  create  suspicion  of  the  church 
as  the  equal  friend  of  the  rich  and  the  poor.  But  there  is  still 
the  tendency  that  James  noted  in  the  Apostolic  Church,  to 
"have  regard  to  him  of  the  gold  ring  and  the  goodly  apparel." 

The  church  professes  and  actually  extends  a  welcome  to  all, 
and  would  deny  most  vigorously  any  imputation  of  favoritism 
to  the  more  prosperous  and  educated.  Yet  there  is  an  uncon- 
scious lack  of  cordiality,  increasing  to  conscious  disdain  on  the 
part  of  some  church  members,  which  makes  the  poorly  dressed 
individual  feel  that  he  is  being  patronized,  humiliated,  snubbed 
and  which  awakens  in  him  a  feeling  of  resentment,  that  leads 
him  to  stay  away. 

Robert  Woods  rightly  says,  "As  long  as  class  distinctions 
hold  among  the  attendants  at  a  church,  whether  based  on  posi- 
tion, wealth  or  learning,  it  will  be  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to 
secure  the  co-operation  of  self-respecting  working-men.  .  .  .  The 
spirit  of  an  active  sympathy  is  the  essential  thing;  without  it, 
all  methods  will  be  understood  to  be  merely  baits  for  catching 
proselytes.  "1 

But  not  only  is  there  the  negative  feeling  of  humiliation  on 
the  part  of  many  poor  people,  in  the  presence  of  the  higher 
classes  which  make  up  the  Protestant  Church,  but  there  is  a 
positive  feeling  of  resentment  and  antagonism  against  these 
same  higher  classes  on  the  part  of  many  intelligent  working- 
men. 

"There  are  those  who  deny  that  wage-earners  are  alienated 

^  Woods,  Robert,  English  Social  Movements,  pp.  168-9. 


Causes  for  the  Decadence  of  the  Down-town  Church         97 

from  the  church,  and  I  have  carefully  considered  their  argu- 
ment," says  Prof.  Ely,  "but  after  years  of  observation  and  re- 
flection, I  have  been  forced  to  the  conclusion  that  there  is  a 
clear  alienation  of  thinking  wage-earners  from  the  church,  which 
on  the  whole  is  growing."^ 

It  is  evident  that  the  wage-workers  as  a  class  are  discontented. 
They  feel  that  they  are  not  getting  their  fair  share  of  the  gains 
of  advancing  civilization.  They  are  developing  rapidly  a  class 
consciousness,  which  sets  them  off  sharply  from  the  employing 
class.  Under  modern  industrial  development,  the  old  relation 
of  friendliness  between  the  two  classes  is  well-nigh  impossible, 
and  is  therefore  giving  way  to  alienation  and  enmity. 

Now  city  churches  of  the  Protestant  order  are  usually  at- 
tended and  sustained  by  the  commercial  and  professional  classes. 
To  laboring-men  they  are  therefore  the  institutions  of  their  in- 
dustrial enemy.  They  are  maintained  by  the  capitalist.  To 
his  mind  they  must  of  necessity  be  subservient  to  the  wishes  of 
the  capitalist  and  defend  his  interests.  Therefore  they  cannot 
be  in  sympathy  with  the  struggles  and  aspirations  of  the  labor- 
ing-man. The  possessing  classes  are  considered  exploiters  who 
live  on  their  labor,  and  they  resent  it  when  persons  of  this 
class  address  them  with  the  tone  of  moral  superiority. 

"They  sneer  at  the  capitalist  with  his  long  and  solemn  face 
on  Sunday,  and  his  keen,  rasping,  grasping  way  on  Monday; 
praying  for  the  heathen  abroad,  but  ignorant  of  the  conditions 
of  those  he  employs.  They  sneer  at  the  clergy,  doing  their 
statutory  work,  and  keeping  apart  from  the  sins  and  miseries 
of  their  fellows.  They  point  to  stock  exchanges  and  trust 
companies  and  many  sorts  of  business,  with  their  tricks  and  de- 
ceits, their  grinding  of  poor  toilers  and  their  gospel  of  cheapness. 
They  dwell  on  the  gaps  between  what  is  believed  and  what  is 
actually  done  and  protest  that  a  religion  that  dwells  on  another 
world  and  does  not  reform  this,  that  has  tides  of  praise  to  God, 
and  feels  not  the  tides  of  discontent  that  are  surging  around, 
that  passes  by  the  poor  and  defers  to  the  rich,  is  not  for  them, 
that  it  is  a  clog  on  the  wheels  of  progress  and  a  gigantic  un- 
truth. "2 


^  Ely,  Richard  T.,  Social  Aspects  of  Christianity,  p.  39. 

*  Lang,  Marshall,  The  Church  and  Its  Social  Mission,  p.  339. 


98  The  Down-town  Church 

In  industrial  disputes,  laboring  men  feel  that  the  Church,  if 
not  openly  on  the  side  of  the  capitalist,  gives  little  sympathy 
or  support,  moral  or  otherwise,  to  them.  They  feel  that  the 
very  existence  of  the  Church  depends  upon  the  dividends  of 
capital,  and  that  therefore  no  encouragement  can  be  expected 
from  it,  in  any  struggle  for  better  wages  or  conditions  of  work. 

This  conclusion,  very  naturally  drawn  from  the  premises,  is 
further  strengthened  by  the  experiences  of  many  foreign  work- 
ing-men who  have  brought  with  them  a  long-standing  distrust 
for  the  clergy  or  the  Church  as  tools  of  oppression. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  Church  has  given  ample 
grounds  for  suspicion  of  favoritism  in  the  industrial  conflicts 
of  the  past.  The  Church  has  been  very  slow  to  acknowledge 
the  essential  righteousness  of  the  Labor  Union  movement  and 
has  given  very  tardy  support  to  efforts  to  improve  the  social 
and  economic  conditions  of  the  working  classes.  It  is  not  to 
be  wondered  at,  therefore,  that  laboring  men  freely  make  the 
charge,  that  the  Church  is  "subservient  to  the  oppressing  class," 
that  it  is  "seldom  just  enough  even  to  be  neutral,"  and  that  it 
is  a  "mammonized  institution." 

The  Church,  too,  has  been  credited  with  being  unsympathetic 
with  those  who  would  readjust  social  conditions  on  a  broader 
and  stronger  basis  of  social  justice.  To  it  is  imputed  the  pas- 
sion to  justify  existing  arrangements.  It  is  believed  to  be  the 
sponsor  not  of  justice  but  of  charity.  And  as  the  conviction 
has  gained  ground  that  a  larger  measure  of  justice  would  ob- 
viate the  necessity  for  so  much  charity,  the  Church  and  its 
influence  have  correspondingly  weakened.  There  is  a  very 
general  feeling  that  the  Church  is  not  familiar  with  social  con- 
ditions, that  its  ideas  of  social  reform  are  unscientific  and  ab- 
surd, and  that  therefore  little  can  be  expected  of  it  in  furthering 
a  more  just  social  system. 

This  attitude  toward  the  Church  has  developed  as  a  result 
of  the  active  propaganda  of  "scientific  socialism,"  which  in  its 
earliest  presentation  at  least,  was  bitterly  antagonistic  to  the 
Church  and  organized  religion.  But  it  is  also  the  result  of  the 
investigations  and  conclusions  of  the  social  sciences  during  the 
past  quarter  century.  The  essential  injustice  of  many  social 
conditions  has  now  become  apparent,  and  the  possibility  of 


Causes  for  the  Decadence  of  the  Down-town  Church         99 

correcting  them,  and  of  effecting  comparative  social  equality 
has  become  no  less  apparent.  The  individual  or  the  institu- 
tion which  takes  a  passive  attitude  toward  social  reform,  or 
champions  conditions  as  they  are,  is  now  considered  reaction- 
ary, and  can  expect  to  enjoy  neither  the  support  nor  the  confi- 
dence of  those  vitally  affected. 

Laboring  men  who  are  antagonistic  to  the  Church  point  out 
the  fact  that  many  social  and  economic  reforms  have  been  ac- 
complished without  much  aid  from  the  Church,  and  in  many 
cases  in  spite  of  the  Church.^  It  is  claimerf  that  Christian 
mill-owners  have  persistently  opposed  the  progress  of  child 
labor  legislation,  workmen's  compensation  acts,  and  factory 
inspection  bills,  that  the  labor  unions  have  won  their  battles 
for  better  wages,  better  working  conditions,  and  even  Sunday 
rest,  with  little  or  no  encouragement  from  the  Church;  that 
Christian  landlords  have  opposed  better  tenement  laws,  and 
that  in  short,  every  social  reform  that  promised  to  affect  divi- 
dends, was  not  only  given  little  encouragement  by  the  Church, 
but  vigorously  opposed  by  leading  men  in  the  Church.  "If," 
they  argue,  "we  can  accomplish  our  purposes  of  social  reform 
without  the  aid  of  the  Church,  why  should  we  be  a  part  of  it? 
It  has  done  nothing  for  us,  why  should  we  give  anything  to  it?" 

Whatever  the  truth  or  falsity  of  these  conclusions,  there  can 
be  no  doubt  that  very  many  workingmen  hold  them.  It  is 
not  surprising,  therefore,  that  they  pass  by  the  Church  with  in- 
difference, and  even  with  scorn.  They  feel  that  the  Church 
has  not  lived  up  to  the  teaching  and  example  of  its  Founder, 
whom  they  respect  and  in  whose  philosophy  they  believe. 
They  feel  that  the  Church  has  forsaken  the  masses  except  in  a 
patronizing  way,  and  that  it  is  the  tool  of  the  classes,  that  the 
Church  is  not  to  be  the  agent  of  social  reform,  but  the  defender 
of  the  existing  order,  that  it  is  allied  with  and  subservient  to 
capital,  and,  therefore  that  it  cannot  be  sympathetic  with  the 
ideals  and  struggles  of  the  laboring  man. 

In  short  many  look  upon  the  Church  as  a  class  institution, 


^  A  Fabian  writer  shows  by  an  analysis  of  the  votes  in  the  House  of  Lords 
that  the  bishops  and  arch-bishops  of  England  have  voted  "No,"  on  almost 
every  progressive  and  advance  bill.  See  Bliss,  Enc.  Soc.  Ref.  Art.,  on  The 
Church  and  Social  Reform . 


lOO  The  Down-town  Church 

in  which  they  find  no  true  democracy  and  human  brotherhood 
and  from  which  they  can  expect  little  sympathy  and  support. 
It  is  a  very  important  reason  for  the  decline  of  the  Protestant 
churches  among  the  proletariat  of  our  cities. 

4.  Substitutes  for  the  Church 

Another  cause  which  has  contributed  to  the  decadence  of 
the  down-town  church  is  the  organization  and  growth  of  ethical 
movements,  and  institutions  outside  of  and  apart  from  the 
church. 

The  church  of  the  middle  ages  included  in  its  work,  and 
under  its  authority,  every  humanitarian  and  social  betterment 
movement.  The  care  of  the  sick  and  the  aged,  reformatory 
and  penal  institutions,  educational  efforts,  the  political  and 
industrial  and  social  interests  of  the  community  were  all  under 
the  spiritual  direction  of  the  church.  The  church  gave  the 
first  impulse  to  humanitarian  effort.  It  was  the  fountain 
from  which  flowed  practically  the  only  stream  of  sympathy, 
that  at  that  time  softened  the  asperities  of  existence.  It  was 
a  hospital  for  the  sick,  a  refuge  for  the  homeless,  and  an  asylum 
for  the  oppressed  and  helpless  members  of  society.  It  became 
indispensable  to  the  masses  of  the  population. 

But  for  various  reasons  the  church  lost  its  leadership  in  these 
matters,  and  its  place  and  influence  today,  are  in  the  strongest 
possible  contrast  with  its  rank  in  the  old  order. 

The  special  agencies  which  the  church  once  controlled  are 
now  largely  beyond  its  pale  and  are  mostly  without  religious 
direction.  The  church  has  parted  with  its  social  jurisdiction. 
Concerned  too  largely  with  building  up  its  own  power,  and  ne- 
glectful of  its  true  mission,  too  much  wedded  to  traditional 
conceptions  of  life  and  social  development,  and  too  suspicious 
of  new  truths,  the  church  has  been  humiliated  by  seeing  much 
of  its  work  done  by  new  societies  organized  outside  of  it,  apart 
from  it,  and  often  antagonistic  to  it.  Prophets  of  a  new  social 
order  have  also  "dreamed  dreams  and  seen  visions"  of 
"heavenly  cities,"  "New  Jerusalems,"  and  the  "Kingdom  of 
God,"  and  apart  from  the  church,  and  without  the  aid  of  ec- 
clesiastical machinery,  have  gone  about  to  make  their  ideals 
realities.     The  church  failing  to  co-operate  has  been  ignored. 


Causes  for  the  Decadence  of  the  Down-town  Church       loi 

Thus  rival  institutions  have  been  set  up.  They  may  not  be 
avowedly  religious  in  method  and  aim,  but  they  are  recognized 
as  essentially  so,  and  the  church  has  thereby  lost  adherents. 

The  organizations  or  movements  which  have  been  most 
successful  as  rivals  of  and  substitutes  for  the  church  among 
the  poor  are  fraternal  organizations,  labor  unions,  and  social- 
ism. 

Fraternal  organizations,  especially  those  which  make  sick 
and  death  benefits  a  principal  feature  of  their  work,  have  made 
a  strong  appeal  to  wage  earners.  They  have  had  a  wonderful 
growth  in  the  past  few  years.  The  World  Almanac  reports  a 
total  membership  in  191 1,  of  11,150,570.  In  1900  the  total 
membership  was  5,339,075,  so  that  in  a  decade  the  member- 
ship has  doubled.  Many  people  belong  to  two  or  more  lodges 
at  the  same  time,  so  that  it  is  not  fair  to  compare  the  member- 
ship statistics  of  the  fraternal  organizations  with  those  of  the 
church,  where  no  one  presumably  is  counted  more  than  once. 
But  allowing  for  this  duplication,  it  is  still  apparent  that  the 
fraternal  societies  are  growing  more  rapidly  than  the  church. 

Most  wage  earning  people  join  the  lodge  primarily  because 
of  the  sick  and  death  benefits  which  come  to  them  and  their 
families.  But  to  many,  "Their  lodges  represent  more  than 
mere  benefit  organizations.  They  have  become  substitutes 
for  the  church.  They  have  their  chaplains  who  are  regularly 
elected  with  the  other  officers,  and  the  meetings  are  opened 
and  closed  with  prayer.  Their  rituals  and  their  work  closely 
resemble  the  outward  forms  and  ceremonies  of  some  churches, 
and  the  practical  benevolences  follow  ambitiously  the  material 
ministrations  of  the  church,  so  that  it  is  often  said  by  the  en- 
thusiastic lodge  man  and  woman,  'That  there  is  church  enough 
in  their  lodge  for  them.'"^ 

But  it  is  not  only  the  insurance  feature,  and  the  ritualistic 
or  outward  observance  of  religious  forms,  that  make  the  frater- 
nal orders  successful  rivals  of  the  church  or  substitutes  for  it 
in  the  minds  of  many.  It  is  also  because  they  are  what  the 
name  implies,  fraternal  societies.  Bound  together  by  definite 
principles  and  vows,  they  form  a  brotherhood  where  mutual 
sympathy  and  helpfulness  are  developed,   definite  ideals  are 

^  Stelzle,  Charles,  Christianity s  Storm  Centre,  p.  120. 


102  The  Down-town  Church 

fostered,  and  specific  aims  adopted.  Chivalry,  loyalty  and 
humanity  are  the  keynotes  most  often  struck.  These  are  the 
motives  which  underlie  most  of  the  societies,  and  these  are  re- 
ligious in  their  essence  and  outcome. 

It  is  partly  because  the  church  has  emphasized  less  attrac- 
tive virtues  than  these  and  partly  because  the  church  has  failed 
to  foster  the  fraternal  spirit  and  to  provide  for  the  exigencies 
of  life,  that  this  great  ethical  movement  has  arisen  outside  the 
church  and  prospered  in  spite  of  the  anathemas  of  the  church.^ 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  need  for  such  institutions, 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  they  have  taken  the  place  of  the 
church  in  the  allegiance  and  loyalty  of  many. 

Another  substitute  for  the  church  is  the  labor  union.  Charles 
Stelzle  says  "Among  the  forces  in  society  that  challenge  the 
church  today,  none  has  become  quite  so  effective  as  the  labor 
movement.  Here  we  find  developed  to  a  remarkable  degree, 
the  three  great  principles  for  which  Christianity  stands;  viz. 
the  value  of  human  life,  the  care  of  the  human  body,  the  de- 
velopment of  the  human  soul."^ 

Having  become  suspicious  of  the  church  as  an  institution, 
out  of  sympathy  with  the  aims  and  ideals  of  working-men, 
many  of  them  have  welcomed  the  labor  union  as  an  institu- 
tion that  is  essentially  ethical  in  its  ideals  and  that  seems  much 
more  practical  than  the  church  in  the  method  it  uses  to  ac- 
complish its  ideals. 

The  creed  of  the  labor  union  movement,*  appeals  to  the  la- 
boring man  more  strongly  than  does  the  average  church  creed. 
At  least  he  can  understand  it  better,  and  he  is  more  willing  to 

^  See  Art.  "Anti-Masonry,"  in  Cyclopedia  of  Fraternities. 

^  Op.  cit.,  pp.  28-9. 

'  "We  are  pledged  to  the  emancipation  of  our  class  from  poverty,  ignor- 
ance and  selfishness;  to  be  respectful  in  word  and  action  to  every  woman;  to 
be  considerate  to  the  widow  and  orphan,  the  weak  and  the  defenseless;  and 
never  to  discriminate  against  a  fellow- worker,  on  account  of  creed,  color  or 
nationality;  to  defend  freedom  of  thought,  whether  expressed  by  tongue  or 
pen;  to  educate  ourselves  and  our  fellow- workers  in  the  history  of  the  labor 
movement.  We  promise  that  we  will  never  knowingly  wrong  a  brother  or 
see  him  wronged,  if  in  our  power  to  prevent  it.  We  will  endeavor  to  sub- 
ordinate every  selfish  impulse  to  the  task  of  elevating  the  material,  intellec- 
tual, and  moral  conditions  of  the  entire  laboring  class." — The  oath  taken  by 
one  who  joins  the  American  Federation  of  Labor. 


Causes  for  the  Decadence  of  the  Down-town  Church       103 

give  his  assent  to  it.  It  may  readily  be  criticized  as  narrow 
and  appealing  to  class  interest,  but  it  has  the  merit  of  direct- 
ness and  frankness.  It  deals  with  conditions  right  here  on 
earth  and  it  does  awaken  in  him  chivalry  and  enthusiasm  for 
justice. 

The  laboring  man  also  spends  vast  sums  of  money  in  caring 
for  the  sick,  the  unemployed,  the  widows  and  orphans.  The 
International  Typographical  Union  supports  in  Colorado  a 
million-dollar  home  for  the  use  of  its  members  who  are  suffer- 
ing from  tuberculosis,  or  who  have  become  incapacitated  on 
account  of  old  age  or  illness.  The  Cigarmaker's  Union,  with 
a  membership  of  45,000,  disbursed  during  the  past  28  years 
over  $8,000,000  in  sick  and  other  benefits,  and  other  unions 
have  equally  impressive  records  of  practical  benevolence.^ 

The  labor  union  also  provides  the  social  life  that  every  man 
craves.  The  head-quarters  of  the  union  take  the  place  of  a 
club-room.  Here  the  men  meet  their  fellows  on  terms  of  equal- 
ity. The  spirit  of  democracy  prevails.  "Why  should  we  go 
to  a  church,"  says  one,  "where  people  condescend  to  us  and 
patronize  us,  when  we  can  meet  our  equals  at  the  union  and 
feel  ourselves  to  be  men?" 

Another  movement  which  has  for  some  time  become  a  sub- 
stitute for  the  church,  is  Socialism.  Paul  Gohre^  in  his  interest- 
ing account  of  his  experiences  in  a  German  workshop,  shows 
that  in  Germany  social  democracy  has  become  almost  a  com- 
plete substitute  for  the  church  among  working-men  in  the 
cities.  In  America  and  England,  Socialism  has  made  slower 
progress  and  has  been  less  virulent  in  its  attitude  towards  the 
church.  Only  occasionally  do  we  find  the  bitter  invectives  and 
biting  sarcasms  applied  to  the  church  and  religion,  which  led 
the  church  to  look  upon  earlier  Socialism  with  suspicion  and  re- 
sentment. 

But  while  usually  it  is  not  actively  antagonistic  to  the  church, 
it  is  so  active  in  its  own  defense  and  propaganda  that  it  is  be- 
coming to  very  many  a  substitute  for  the  church.  Mr.  H.  G. 
Wells,  a  recent  apologist  for  socialism,  says,  "In  a  sense,  Social- 


^  Stelzle,  Charles,  The  Church  and  Labor,  pp.  68-70. 

*  Gohre,  Paul,  Three  Months  in  a  German  Workshop,  Trans,  from  the  Ger- 
man, 1895. 


104  The  Down-town  Church 

ism  is  a  religion  to  me.  It  is  a  religion  in  the  sense,  that  is, 
that  it  gives  a  work  to  do  that  is  not  self-seeking,  that  it  de- 
termines one  in  a  thousand  indecisions,  that  it  supplies  the 
imperative  craving  of  so  many  human  souls,  a  devotion."^ 

Dr.  Francis  G.  Peabody  says,  "The  creed  of  social  revolu- 
tion has  become,  in  many  minds,  a  distinct  substitute  for  a 
spiritual  religion.  It  has  drawn  to  itself  the  same  emotional 
loyalty  and  zeal  which  are  commonly  associated  with  a  relig- 
ious faith.  Men  go  to  the  scaffold  for  the  cause  of  revolution  as 
they  once  died  for  Christ,  and  with  a  spirit  akin  to  that  of 
christian  martyrs  give  their  lives  for  the  creed  of  social  democ- 
racy. When  one  remembers  that  this  creed,  which  commands 
such  devotion,  is  in  its  form  an  economical  programme,  and 
that  the  articles  of  this  religion  deal,  not  with  supernatural 
realities,  but  with  questions  of  wages  and  taxations,  the  pas- 
sionate attachment  of  socialists  to  their  faith  may  well  seem 
surprising.  Why  is  it  that  such  extraordinary  devotion  is  of- 
fered to  an  industrial  programme,  and  indeed  to  a  programme 
which  by  many  of  its  adherents  is  but  vaguely  understood? 
It  is  because  this  creed,  unspiritual  though  it  seems,  represents 
to  millions  of  people  a  religion,  and  provides  a  substitute  for 
the  teaching  of  the  Christian  Church  which  they  have  been  led 
to  reject.  .  .  .  The  religious  emotion  demands  some  way  of 
utterance  even  in  those  who  reject  religion,  and  the  socialist 
movement  provides  a  way  of  utterance  for  many  persons  who 
have  lost  faith  in  the  purposes  of  Christianity.  "^ 

Mr.  Belford  Bax  says  "While  socialism  may  be  considered 
irreligious  because  it  'utterly  despises  the  other  world  with  all 
its  stage  properties,*  yet  it  is  not  in  fact  irreligious,  because 
'it  brings  back  religion  from  heaven  to  earth.'  'In  the  hope 
and  struggle  for  the  higher  life,  the  socialist  finds  his  ideal, 
his  religion.'"' 

As  Professor  Nash  says,  "It  is  well  for  us  to  seriously  realize 
the  affinity  between  the  social  feeling  and  the  religious  feeling. 
I  think  it  is  fast  becoming  a  matter  of  common  remark,  that  the 
deeper  socialism  of  England  and  America  is  looking  towards, 

^  Wells,  H.  G.,  New  Worlds  for  Old,  p.  134. 

Peabody,  F.  G.,  Jesus  Christ  and  the  Social  Question,  p.  298. 
*  Bax,  Belford,  The  Religion  of  Socialism,  p.  52. 


Causes  for  the  Decadence  of  the  Down-town  Church        105 

if  it  has  not  already  entered  into,  a  religious  phase.  This  is 
not  a  haphazard  or  passing  attitude.  The  social  and  the  re- 
ligious consciousness  are  akin  .  .  .  when  the  two  elements  are 
put  together,  it  becomes  clear  on  the  one  side  that  the  social 
feeling  is  essentially  religious  and  on  the  other  side,  that  the  re- 
ligious feeling  is  essentially  social."^ 

Much  has  been  written  within  recent  years,  to  show  the  af- 
finity of  socialism  with  the  ideals  of  the  early  church.  The 
Christian  Socialists  have  become  sufficiently  numerous  and 
prominent  to  enjoy  a  separate  designation,  so  that  it  is  not  too 
much  to  claim  that  there  is  a  religious  element  in  socialism 
which  makes  it  easy  for  one  to  transfer  his  allegiance  from  the 
church  to  it. 

It  is  impossible  to  estimate  with  any  degree  of  accuracy  the 
extent  to  which  these  organizations  outside  of  the  church  have 
taken  its  place  in  the  affection  and  support  of  the  people  of  the 
section  under  investigation,  but  there  can  be  no  doubt  but  that 
they  have  at  least  to  some  extent  become  a  substitute  for  it. 

Appealing  to  that  longing  of  the  people  which  is  most  keenly 
realized,  and  which  because  of  its  immediateness  is  most  des- 
perate— the  longing  for  economic  betterment,  these  institu- 
tions—  the  fraternal  orders,  labor  unions,  and  socialism,  have 
received  a  response  which  the  church  could  not  be  expected  to 
receive  to  appeals  of  a  less  practical  nature.  As  we  have  seen, 
the  hard  conditions  of  life  have  a  deadening  effect  upon  the 
religious  nature.  People  of  such  districts  therefore,  do  not 
have  a  very  real  sense  of  sin,  while  heaven  because  of  the  un- 
heavenly  environment  in  which  they  live,  seems  too  far  off  to 
be  real  and  too  inaccessible  to  be  worth  striving  for.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  necessity  for  some  form  of  insurance  for  periods 
of  sickness  and  unemployment  and  for  a  "decent  funeral"  is 
sternly  realized. 

The  provisions  for  material  well-being,  combined  with  a 
really  high  idealism  for  which  these  movements  stand,  make 
them  formidable  rivals  of  the  church.  They  represent  some- 
thing real,  while  much  for  which  the  church  stands  must  seem 
unreal.  They  promise  something  definite  and  tangible  and  it 
is  not  surprising  therefore  that  people  turn  from  the  things  of 

1  Nash,  H.  S.,  Genesis  of  the  Social  Conscience,  pp.  15-17- 


io6  The  Down-town  Church 

faith  and  eternity  for  which  the  church  has  largely  stood,  to 
the  things  of  sense  and  time  for  which  these  modern  substi- 
tutes for  the  church  and  religion  stand. 

5.  Exclusiveness  and  Conservatism 

A  fifth  cause  for  the  decadence  of  the  down-town  church  is 
the  failure  of  the  church  to  identify  itself  with  the  life  of  its 
community,  to  minister  to  the  needs  of  its  neighborhood  and 
to  give  its  message  in  an  intelligent  and  attractive  form. 

With  a  few  exceptions,  churches  have  been  established  by 
church  boards  with  a  view  solely  to  the  establishing  of  the 
churches  themselves  as  self-sustaining,  growing  institutions, 
that  would  reflect  glory  upon  the  denomination.  Under  this 
prodigal  system  of  church  competition,  churches  have  had 
desperate  struggles  for  existence.  Their  time  and  energy  have 
had  to  be  used  in  planning  for  their  own  support.  They  have 
seldom  found  it  possible  to  study  their  own  communities  and 
to  plan  for  and  support  helpful  ministries.  The  old  churches 
of  the  down-town  district  that  have  lost  their  former  constit- 
uencies have  felt  the  struggle  most  keenly,  and  only  the  fittest 
have  survived  as  we  have  seen. 

The  system  of  establishing  churches  in  neighborhoods  where 
they  would  have  the  best  chance  of  survival,  and  allowing  them 
by  cut-throat  competition  somehow  or  other  to  win  a  following 
and  support,  instead  of  where  they  were  needed  and  equipped 
with  workers  sufficient  to  make  them  effective,  has  had  the 
inevitable  effect  of  making  the  church  an  end  in  itself,  rather 
than  a  means  to  an  end.  It  has  put  it  in  the  anomalous  posi- 
tion of  having  to  be  ministered  unto,  rather  than  to  minister. 
It  has  made  it  necessary  for  the  church  to  seek  the  most  able, 
rather  than  the  most  needy.  It  has  made  it  a  social  club  for 
a  few  elect,  rather  than  a  church  throbbing  with  a  passion  to 
help  and  save.  It  has  been  a  neighborhood  institution  only 
when  most  of  its  members  lived  in  the  neighborhood.  When 
its  members  moved  away,  it  ceased  to  be  a  neighborhood  force. 

Of  the  Protestant  Churches  that  still  remain  in  this  down- 
town section  there  are  few  that  would  be  appreciably  missed 
in  their  several  localities  if  they  should  decide  to  move  away. 
They  draw  their  audiences  and  membership  largely  from  out- 


Causes  for  the  Decadence  of  the  Down-town  Church       107 

side  the  district,  they  perform  few  helpful  ministries  to  their 
neighborhood,  and  those  of  an  eleemosynary  nature,  which 
might  better  in  many  cases  be  left  to  wiser  administrators. 
They  are  in  the  neighborhood  but  not  of  it.  They  have  people 
all  around  them,  but  they  do  not  know  the  people's  lives,  do 
not  understand  the  people's  attitude  and  are  not  responsive  to 
the  people's  needs  and  aspirations. 

Rev.  Wm.  S.  Rainsford  who  found  St.  George's  in  New  York 
City  almost  extinct,  and  who  made  it  one  of  the  greatest 
churches  in  America,  said,  "I  care  very  little  about  the  methods 
of  a  church.  These  will  change  with  varying  conditions  as 
ladies  change  their  fashions.  But  the  thing  is  to  get  hold  of  men, 
life  on  life,  hand  on  hand, — the  sublime  picture  of  the  prophet, 
recurring  again  and  again,  when  he  stretched  himself  on  the 
dead  child,  mouth  to  his  mouth,  eyes  to  his  eyes,  the  warm  living 
body  to  the  dead  cold  one,  and  the  soul  of  the  child  came 
back  again.  But  this  is  just  what  the  churches  have  not  done, 
and  to  a  great  extent  are  very  far  from  doing  yet  today,  and 
here  Protestantism  can  and  must  learn  much  from  Catholicism. 
Criticize  the  methods  of  that  great  church  if  you  will;  she 
stretches  herself  over  her  dead,  she  lives  for  her  people,  she 
dwells  among  them.  Her  clergy,  her  sisters,  they  are  of  the 
people  not  of  the  classes.  Here  we  must  follow  her.  Here  we 
have  to  work  our  way  out  of  the  hyperindividualism  of  Pro- 
testantism and  back  to  the  larger,  truer  conception  of  a  church 
holding  a  trust  for  all  mankind.  .  .  .  The  ordinary  Protestant 
idea  of  the  church  supported  for  those  who  like  the  preaching, 
and  make  music  to  suit  themselves,  is  a  club  but  not  a  church. 
It  is  a  mockery  to  claim  exemption  from  taxation  for  such  re- 
ligious organizations."^ 

Thomas  Chalmers  had  his  wonderful  success  in  the  worst 
section  of  Edinburgh  because  he  became  a  minister  to  his 
neighborhood  and  made  of  his  church  a  neighborhood  centre 
for  community  uplift.  "He  opened  his  mission  in  an  old  tan- 
loft  opposite  a  place  notorious  as  the  scene  of  fourteen  murders. 
The  whole  community  seemed  given  over  to  idleness,  drunken- 
ness, lewdness,  and  crime.     The  police  warned  him  that  his 

^  Reports  of  International  Christian  Conference,  Chicago,  1894,  in  Chris- 
tianity Practically  Applied,  Volume  on  Sectional  Conferences,  pp.  18 1-2. 


io8  The  Down-town  Church 

life  and  the  lives  of  his  visitors  were  in  danger.  But  in  five 
years  he  had  established  a  self-supporting  church,  an  industrial 
school,  a  washinghouse,  and  a  savings  bank;  and  the  people, 
one-fourth  of  whom  were  on  the  poor  roll  when  the  work  began, 
now  contributed  £70  a  year  to  benevolent  work  outside  of  their 
own  community,  while  the  police  declared  their  occupation 
gone.  "^ 

The  success  which  the  institutional  churches  and  the  social 
settlements  have  had,  is  due  to  the  fact  that  neighborhoods 
have  been  studied  and  efforts  have  been  made  to  get  in  touch 
with  the  people  in  their  homes  and  to  satisfy  real  needs  as  they 
have  been  found.  The  value  of  any  church  or  of  any  social, 
institution  to  a  commuinty,  is  not  so  much  in  its  preaching 
services  and  its  benevolent  activities,  as  it  is  in  the  personal 
contacts  which  may  be  formed  as  a  result  of  these.  It  is  largely 
because  the  people  have  had  neither  the  inspiration  of  the 
public  services  of  the  church,  nor  the  personal  contact  of  the 
members  and  workers  of  the  church,  that  the  down-town 
churches  have  steadily  declined.  The  only  churches  that  have 
not  declined  are  those  which  have  established  and  maintained 
friendly  and  helpful  contacts  with  the  people  of  their  neighbor- 
hood, that  have  identified  themselves  with  the  life  and  the  in- 
terests of  their  section,  that  have  struggled  with  the  people  in 
all  that  has  been  to  their  advantage,  and  have  devoted  them- 
selves wholly  to  the  moral  leadership  of  the  community.  The 
people  surrounding  such  a  church  respect  it  and  take  pride  in 
it,  even  though  they  may  not  subscribe  to  its  creed.  It  will  get 
a  following  and  enjoy  a  support  in  the  most  unfavorable  environ- 
ment. It  will  not  have  to  move  away  to  save  its  life.  But 
it  will  save  its  life  by  giving  it  to  all  who  need  it.  The  most 
important  cause  for  the  decline  of  the  down-town  church  we 
believe  has  been  its  exclusiveness,  its  self-interestedness,  its 
lack  of  contact  with  the  people  about  it,  its  failure  to  be  gen- 
uinely useful  to  its  neighborhood. 

But  the  church  has  lost  contact  with  people  not  only  because 
it  has  failed  to  identify  itself  helpfully  with  the  life  about  it, 
but  because  its  message  has  been  uninteresting,  if  not  unintelli- 
gible. 

*  Strong,  Josiah,  The  New  Era,  pp.  340-1. 


Causes  for  the  Decadence  of  the  Down-town  Church        109 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  no  one  any  more  is  very  much  interested 
in  theology,  or  creeds  or  church  polity.  The  average  man  and 
woman  do  not  care  whether  the  declarations  of  the  pulpit  are 
orthodox  or  not.  What  they  insist  upon  is  reality.  Fine  spun 
theories,  irresistible  logic,  beautifully  turned  phrases  are  for 
the  cultured,  leisured  classes  of  the  suburbs,  not  for  the  over- 
worked and  under-nourished  masses  of  the  down-town  district. 

"There  is  no  charge  more  frequently  pressed  against  the 
authorized  ministry  of  the  church  than  that  it  does  not  hit  the 
nail  on  the  very  head ;  does  not  appeal  to  the  world  in  the  manner 
that  commands  its  attention.  This  charge  is  not  to  be  lightly 
regarded.  Churches  may  well  consider  whether  in  their  pul- 
pits there  is  not  frequently  a  failure  in  relevance;  whether  the 
character  of  the  instruction  is  not  such  as  misses  the  mark  in 
the  case  of  many,  with  whom  the  world  is  present  early  and 
late ;  whether  the  language  in  which  it  is  conveyed  is  not  that  of 
books,  rather  than  of  life,  and  the  mind  is  busy  over  matters 
that  do  not  bring  men  in  touch  with  what  they  feel  to  be  vital 
and  do  not  give  them  really  a  lamp  to  their  feet  and  a  light  to 
their  pa.th."^ 

The  "  other- worldliness "  of  the  Church  does  not  appeal  to 
men  today.  Many  of  the  old  beliefs  are  now  thought  of  as 
superstitious,  and  they  have  ceased  to  have  their  compelling 
power.  Outside  of  the  Catholic  Church,  a  growing  number 
have  ceased  to  believe  that  the  Church  holds  the  keys  of  eternal 
life  and  eternal  death.  Its  warnings  no  longer  frighten  and  its 
appeals  must  be  based  upon  rewards  other  than  those  of  another 
age  and  world.  Formerly,  religion  placed  the  emphasis  upon 
the  beyond.  But  the  man  of  today  is  so  completely  absorbed 
by  the  pressing  things  of  this  life,  that  religion  to  have  any  ap- 
peal, must  be  a  guide  and  help  in  ordering  and  inspiring  the 
life  that  now  is. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  Church  has  not  kept  pace 
with  modern  thought  and  development.  We  are  emerging 
from  the  era  of  individualism,  but  the  Church  still  confines  its 
efforts,  almost  exclusively,  to  the  personal  life.  The  Church 
still  insists  that  the  religious  individual  will  make  the  religious 
society.     But  some  of  our  most  pressing  problems  today  are 

*  Lang.,  op.  ciL,  p.  337.     See  also  Carlyle,  Past  and  Present,  Bk.  IV,  Chap.  I. 


•^^- 


no  The  Down-town  Church 

social,  and  if  the  gospel  would  be  a  factor  of  importance  in 
social  development,  it  must  be  given  a  social  content. 

The  Church  is  becoming  aroused  to  its  obligation  and  op- 
portunity. In  the  larger  and  better  equipped  theological 
schools,  sociology  is  beginning  to  take  its  place  along  with 
theology.  Church  councils  and  assemblies  are  passing  resolu- 
tions and  making  declarations  regarding  social  duties  and  ob- 
ligations,^ and  special  secretaries  are  being  appointed  to  study 
social  conditions  and  recommend  specific  courses  of  action  to 
the  Church,  while  many  individual  ministers  and  churches  are 
recognizing  their  social  obligations  and  are  rendering  valuable 
social  service. 

The  Church  is  gradually  passing  out  of  the  period  of  contro- 
versy. It  has  entered  upon  its  true  mission  of  service.  In 
the  future,  its  concern  will  be  not  so  much  with  truth  as  with 
life.  It  will  consider  conduct  more  important  than  creed,  and 
ceasing  to  be  an  end  in  itself  will  become  a  means  to  an  end. 

The  Church  has  been  too  exclusive  in  the  past.  But  we 
believe  it  is  becoming  more  and  more  imbued  with  a  social 
spirit,  and  that  therefore  it  will  become  increasingly  potent  as 
a  center  of  community  uplift,  and  a  factor  of  social  progress. 

These  in  our  judgment,  are  the  causes  which  have  been  most 
operative  in  weakening  the  Protestant  Church  in  the  down-town 
districts  of  our  American  cities.  Some  of  these  conditions, 
as  for  instance  the  change  in  the  character  of  the  population, 
are  beyond  the  power  of  correction.  Others,  as  that  of  class 
consciousness,  are  imbedded  deep  in  our  very  natures,  and  are 
not  easily  eradicable.  But  most  of  these  causes  are  capable 
of  correctional  treatment. 

In  the  closing  chapter  we  shall  consider  some  readjustments 
possible  to  the  Church,  which  we  believe  would  remove  some 
of  the  conditions  unfavorable  to  its  growth,  and  which,  there- 
fore, would  make  the  Church  more  effective  as  a  factor  of 
social  causation. 


'  See  Resolutions  of  Federal  Council  of  the  Churches  of  Christ  in  America, 
at  the  meeting  held  in  Philadelphia,  1908,  in  Report  of  Meetings ^  pp.  234-244. 


CHAPTER  VI 

The  Efficient  Down-Town  Church 

A  half  century  ago,  attempts  to  subject  religious  phenomena 
to  scientific  investigation,  and  to  estimate  the  value  and  effici- 
ency of  the  Church  in  terms  of  human  appraisement,  were 
looked  upon  with  disfavor  and  even  anxiety.  But  the  progress 
of  religion,  it  has  been  found,  has  been  so  dependent  upon  human 
choices,  and  the  value  and  efficiency  of  churches  have  been  so 
conditioned  on  personality  and  wise  administration,  that  it 
does  not  seem  any  longer  sacrilegious  to  speak  of  them  in  human 
terms,  and  to  test  their  efficiency  by  modern  standards.  In 
fact,  the  growth  of  the  scientific  habit  has  made  this  change 
in  viewpoint  inevitable. 

"It  is  notorious,  that  people  are  tending  rapidly  into  the 
same  mental  attitude  toward  the  churches,  which  they  main- 
tain towards  the  streets,  the  newspapers,  the  department 
stores,  or  places  of  amusement.  That  is,  all  the  institutions 
of  life,  the  Church  included,  are  regarded  as  means  to  ends. 
They  cease  to  rank  as  ends  unto  themselves.  They  wield  no 
authority.  They  compel  no  obedience.  They  are  worth 
what  they  are  worth  in  producing  results.  If  the  churches 
offer  nothing  that  finds  us,  and  helps  us,  we  get  our  satisfac- 
tions elsewhere,  or  not  at  all.  And  this  utilitarian  attitude 
toward  the  Church  is  logically  and  morally  sound.  *Ye  shall 
know  them  by  their  fruits,'  is  the  necessarily  final  form  of 
estimating  all  things.  We  do,  and  must  appraise  the  value  of 
the  Church  to  us,  in  terms  of  what  we  think  it  does  for  us."* 

It  is  most  difficult  to  test  the  efficiency  of  a  religious  institu- 
tion, because  its  value  depends  almost  wholly  upon  that 
subtle  and  intangible  thing  called  influence.  Large  congrega- 
tions, imposing  structures  and  gorgeous  ceremonials  usually 
impress,  but  they  do  not  always  inspire.     The  chapel  may  bg 


*  Prof.  A.  W.  Small,  Independent,  March  7th,  1901,  p.  537. 

Ill 


112  The  Down-town  Church 

more  effective  as  a  religious  institution  than  the  Cathedral, 
because  of  the  closer  contact  possible.  Statistics  are  sugges- 
tive and  indicative,  but  not  always  conclusive.  The  power  of  a 
church  is  measured  not  so  much  by  the  number  of  members  en- 
rolled, as  by  the  number  guided  and  inspired  to  conduct  more 
in  harmony  with  social  ideals. 

The  efficient  church  is  therefore  the  church  whose  influence 
is  promotive  of  moral  action  and  social  progress.  Its  efficiency 
is  to  be  tested  by  the  conduct  of  those  who  are  within  the  sphere 
of  its  influence,  and  by  the  character  of  the  institutions,  and  of 
the  life  of  the  community  in  which  it  is  located.  The  efficient 
church  will  influence  profoundly  both  the  individual  who  may 
attend  its  services,  and  the  neighborhood  of  which  it  is  a  part. 
It  will  not  only  redeem  a  man  from  the  power  of  anti-social 
habits,  but  it  will  remove  the  anti-social  inducements  which 
fostered  the  habits.  Its  messages  will  be  not  only  individual 
but  social.  Its  ministry  will  be  not  only  personal  but  com- 
munal. It  will  be  not  only  a  rescue  agency  but  a  preventive 
and  constructive  force.  It  will  be  a  center  for  neighborhood 
uplift.  And  though  some  may  be  unwilling  to  subscribe  to  its 
creed,  its  beneficent  purpose  and  influence  will  be  generally 
acknowledged. 

The  ideal  for  the  down-town  church  is  not  different  from 
that  which  churches  in  more  favored  localities  must  have  be- 
fore them.  But  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  attaining  the 
ideal  are  more  abundant  and  offer  greater  resistance.  The 
down-town  church  is  less  likely  to  be  an  efficient  church,  for 
reasons  which  have  been  given  in  the  preceding  chapter,  than 
the  suburban  church.  But  there  is  no  reason  why  the  efficiency 
test  should  not  be  applied  to  it,  and  why  it  should  not  be  ex- 
pected to  measure  up  to  standard. 

It  will  be  our  purpose  in  this  chapter,  to  indicate  some  of  the 
readjustments  which  ought  to  be  made,  and  which  we  believe 
must  be  made  if  the  down-town  church  is  to  remain  an  institu- 
tion of  social  value. 

I.  The  Location  and  Inter-relation  of  Churches 

Churches  in  the  past  have  been  located  on  the  principle  of 
expediency  rather  than  of  efficiency.     The  question  which  has 


The  Efficient  Down-town  Church  113 

determined  the  establishment,  has  been  not  where  is  the  church 
most  needed,  but  where  is  it  most  likely  to  find  a  constituency 
and  thus  attain  self-support? 

Wherever  a  group  of  a  certain  denominational  preference  has 
been  found,  there  it  has  seemed  possible  to  establish  a  church. 
The  existence  of  adequate  church  facilities  has  seldom  been  al- 
lowed to  interfere  with  the  organization  of  new  congregations. 
The  result  has  been  a  multiplication  of  agencies,  most  of  which 
are  poorly  equipped,  together  with  a  duplication  of  energies, 
an  over-lapping  of  efforts,  and  a  great  waste  of  resources,  both 
financial  and  physical. 

In  days  of  theological  bias  and  intense  denominational  feel- 
ing and  rivalry,  the  grouping  of  churches  probably  did  not 
matter  so  much.  But  now  that  theological  controversy  has 
practically  ceased,  and  church  services  are  practically  the  same 
in  all  Protestant  churches,  the  close  grouping  of  churches  ap- 
pears wasteful  and  absurd.  In  a  certain  locality  in  Philadelphia, 
a  Baptist,  a  Presbyterian,  a  Methodist  and  an  Episcopal  church 
are  within  a  stone's  throw  of  each  other.  All  four  of  these 
churches  profess  great  concern  about  the  religious  conditions 
of  their  neighborhood,  and  all  are  making  more  or  less  effort 
to  reach  the  people  of  the  neighborhood.  The  result  is  not 
only  duplication  of  effort,  the  same  individuals  not  infrequently 
being  found  in  one  church  as  in  the  other,  but  intense  rivalry 
which  is  not  conducive  to  the  ends  for  which  the  churches  pre- 
sumably exist.  The  workers  of  one  church  speak  of  the  efforts 
of  another  as  "the  competition  across  the  way,"  while  the 
workers  of  the  other  complain  that  its  neighbor  tries  to  win 
away  their  constituency  by  unfair  means.  The  spectacle  is 
anything  but  edifying,  but  it  is  rather  to  be  expected,  where 
four  churches  are  working  the  same  field  in  practically  the 
same  way. 

It  would  be  a  very  desirable  consummation  if  one  of  these 
churches  could  be  merged  with  another  weak  church  of  its  own 
denomination,  and  if  the  two  weaker  churches  of  the  remain- 
ing three  could  be  relocated.  The  result  would  be  most  happy 
for  the  churches  themselves,  we  venture  to  predict,  and  cer- 
tainly the  neighborhood  would  not  suffer  by  the  change. 

There  are  other  churches  which  could  also  be  relocated  or 


114  The  Down-town  Church 

merged  to  the  advantage  of  both  the  churches  themselves  and 
their  neighborhoods.  But  the  unwillingness  of  old  congrega- 
tions to  lose  their  identity,  or  leave  historic  sites,  the  difficulty 
of  disposing  of  property  to  economic  advantage,  and  most  of 
all,  the  lack  of  definite  knowledge  of  social  and  religious  condi- 
tions, and  based  upon  this,  the  lack  of  a  comprehensive  plan 
of  city  evangelization  and  socialization,  make  such  changes 
unlikely,  until  the  futility  of  present  efforts  compels  a  read- 
justment. 

The  principle  which  should  always  determine  the  location 
of  a  church  is  that  of  spiritual  need.  And  in  order  that  com- 
parative spiritual  need,  and  the  nature  of  that  need  may  be 
discovered,  some  such  agency  as  the  Federation  of  Churches 
of  New  York  City,  should  be  organized  and  equipped  for  thor- 
ough work  in  every  city.  This  organization  has  become  a 
clearing-house  of  religious  and  social  information  for  the  churches 
and  other  social  agencies  of  Greater  New  York.  Through  its 
collection  and  tabulation  of  statistics  affecting  the  population 
and  social  life  of  the  city,  and  its  careful  surveys  of  different 
sections,  it  has  been  able  to  give  expert  advice  as  to  the  charac- 
ter of  religious  work  which  certain  localities  need.  It  has  been 
able  to  effect  the  re-location  of  some  churches,  the  merging  of 
others  and  the  establishing  of  others.  While  its  moral  influence 
is  such,  that  its  advice  as  to  competitive  effort  is  likely  to  be 
followed. 

When  the  facts  have  been  discovered  and  tabulated,  it  will 
then  be  possible  to  form  a  comprehensive  plan  of  church  erec- 
tion and  co-operation. 

The  actual  union  of  the  Protestant  churches  is  still  very  far 
from  being  a  reality,  but  that  federative  action  is  not  only  a 
possibility  but  a  probability,  no  one  would  deny  who  is  familiar 
with  the  change  of  attitude  during  the  past  three  decades.  In 
Chicago  there  has  been  organized  The  Co-operative  Council  of 
City  Missions,  in  which  representatives  of  five  denominations 
meet  monthly  for  the  purpose  of  considering  what  may  fairly 
be  said  to  be  the  co-operative  advance  of  Protestantism  within 
the  city.  New  churches  are  not  established  by  one  denomina- 
tion without  the  knowledge,  and  it  may  be  added,  practically 
the  consent  of  the  others.     New  and  rapidly  developing  fields 


The  Efficient  Down-town  Church  115 

are,  as  it  were,  alloted  under  terms  of  comity  among  the  denom- 
inations, and  a  working  program  has  been  reached  for  activities 
among  foreign-speaking  peoples.  When  the  Protestant 
churches  federate  for  the  accompHshment  of  their  common 
ideals  and  aims,  it  will  be  possible  to  plan  comprehensively  for 
city  evangelization,  but  not  until  that  time. 

The  parish  system  would  never  operate  as  successfully  among 
Protestant  people  as  among  Catholics.  The  independence  of 
mind  which  has  made  them  Protestants  will  not  tolerate  limi- 
tations of  church  attendance  and  church  membership  such  as 
the  Roman  Catholic  church  imposes.  But  parish  lines  could 
be  established  for  neighborhood  work  to  advantage.  Such  di- 
vision of  responsibility  and  activity  would  at  least  avoid  the 
duplication  of  efforts  now  seen  in  some  localities,  and  would 
avoid  the  neglect  which  is  no  less  manifest  in  certain  other 
sections.  These  are  the  two  cardinal  sins  of  Protestantism  from 
the  standpoint  of  administrative  efficiency.  And  they  are  cer- 
tain to  characterize  the  work  of  the  churches  so  long  as  the 
present  wasteful  policy  of  denominational  rivalry  prevails. 

It  would  not  be  necessary  for  churches  to  lose  their  denomina- 
tional identity  in  order  to  become  a  part  of  such  a  comprehen- 
sive plan.  It  would  only  be  necessary  for  churches  to  sub- 
ordinate the  interests  of  their  denomination  to  the  interests  of 
their  communities.  It  would  mean  simply  the  substitution 
of  co-operation  for  competition.  Denominationalism  could 
still  be  considered  "a  phase  of  division  of  labor  in  the  church 
universal."  The  problems  confronting  the  churches  could  be 
apportioned  to  the  various  denominations  in  proportion  to 
ability  and  readiness  to  undertake  their  solution.  Definite 
responsibility  could  then  be  fixed.  If  evil  conditions  persisted 
in  a  given  block  or  section,  it  could  then  be  said,  not  that  the 
Church  is  to  blame,  but  that  a  church  is  to  blame.  Such  di- 
vision of  responsibility  would  make  ministers  and  church  leaders 
and  members  alert  to  their  social  responsibility,  and  churches 
would  then  be  more  likely  to  become  centers  of  community 
uplift. 

Nowhere  else  could  federative  action  be  adopted  with  greater 
readiness  or  to  greater  advantage,  than  in  the  down-town  dis- 
tricts of  our  cities.     Denominational  preferences  being  weaker 


Ii6  The  Dow7i-town  Church 

here,  would  not  form  as  effective  barriers  as  among  other  classes. 
The  division  of  territory  could  be  alloted  with  less  likelihood  of 
creating  jealousy  for  little  advantage  could  be  expected  to  ac- 
crue to  the  individual  churches  themselves.  The  needs  too, 
are  more  apparent  than  in  other  fields,  so  that  enlistment  and 
co-operation  could  be  more  easily  secured. 

Efficient  service  can  never  be  expected  from  churches  work- 
ing individually.  A  plan  of  collective  action  must  be  adopted. 
Then  churches  can  be  located  in  strategic  positions,  definite 
responsibility  can  be  fixed,  duplication  of  effort  can  be  avoided, 
and  every  home  and  every  individual  can  feel  the  influence  of 
consecrated  personality  and  the  uplift  of  noble  ideas  and  ideals. 

2.  The  Method  and  Equipment  of  the  Down-town  Church 

The  methods  of  any  church  should  be  determined  only  after 
a  careful  survey  of  neighborhood  conditions.  The  methods 
that  should  be  used  with  one  group  or  in  one  locality,  would 
be  valueless  in  a  group  of  different  traditions  and  habits  of  life. 
For  instance,  church  work  among  recently  arrived  immigrants 
should  manifestly  be  very  different  from  that  among  a  lodging- 
house  population.  No  specific  directions  can  therefore  be 
given  for  any  church,  or  group  of  churches,  but  the  principle 
can  be  laid  down,  that  church  methods  should  be  adapted  to 
the  satisfaction  of  community  needs. 

The  history  of  the  down-town  church  is  a  history  of  a  failure 
in  adaptation.  The  environment  of  the  old  sections  of  the 
city  has  been  gradually  changing  as  we  have  indicated.  But 
the  churches  failing  to  make  the  readjustments  demanded  by 
the  new  conditions,  have  become  in  many  cases  decadent,  and 
in  some  cases  extinct. 

"The  successful  performance  of  functions  by  institutions  as 
by  vital  organs,  depends  upon  an  increasing  nicety  of  adapta- 
tion to  an  evercomplicating  environment."^  "In  the  struggle 
for  existence,  an  organism  perishes,  if  the  food-getting,  food- 
assimilating,  or  other  vital  organs  fail  to  perform  their  func- 
tions or  perform  them  in  mal-adjustment  to  environmental 
conditions.  A  race  in  like  manner  perishes,  if  the  reproductive 
organs  fail  in  function.  .  .  .  Natural  selection  therefore,  is  a 

*  Giddings,  F.  H.,  The  Theory  of  Socialization,  p.  39. 


The  Efficient  Down-town  Church  1 17 

survival  through  a  superior  adaptation  and  performance  of 
function,  in  a  competition,  in  which  non-adaptation  or  non- 
performance of  function  is  fatal.  And  this  is  exactly  what 
happens  among  social  forms,  laws,  and  institutions.  The 
failure  to  benefit,  to  interest,  and  to  hold  allegiance,  is  a  failure 
of  function  and  the  selection  that  results  among  laws  and  in- 
stitutions from  successes  and  failures  of  function,  is  therefore 
a  true  natural  selection."^ 

Most  of  the  churches  that  have  been  studied  are  still  using 
the  same  methods  that  prevailed  a  generation  or  two  ago. 
But  preaching  services  on  Sunday  and  a  prayer-meeting  dur- 
ing the  week,  make  little  appeal  to  people  who  are  unfamiliar 
with  Christian  teachings,  and  whose  needs  are  much  more 
vital  than  such  services  seem  calculated  to  satisfy.  Such 
methods  presuppose  comfortable  home  life,  economic  independ- 
ence, a  high  standard  of  conduct  and  a  knowledge  of  Christian 
doctrine  and  duty.  But  as  has  been  indicated,  these  condi- 
tions no  longer  characterize  the  population  of  the  down-town 
district.  There  is  no  question  of  spiritual  need.  The  question 
is  one  of  method  in  the  satisfaction  of  the  needs.  The  conser- 
vator of  traditional  methods  claims  that  the  Gospel  is  sufficient 
to  accomplish  the  purpose  for  which  the  Church  is  established, 
but  the  people  whom  he  wants  to  reach  refuse  to  listen  to  the 
gospel  and  his  method  is  therefore  a  practical  failure. 

Various  methods  have  been  used  by  the  churches  to  win  the 
people  of  these  districts  and  they  have  met  with  variable 
success. 

One  of  the  first  methods  was  the  establishment  of  missions 
under  the  care  and  support  of  suburban  churches.  Not  a  few 
of  the  churches  that  moved  away  from  the  down-town  dis- 
tricts, realizing  to  some  extent  their  responsibility  for  their 
neighborhoods,  evidently  hoped  in  this  way  to  perpetuate 
their  influence  without  the  disagreeable  necessity  of  continued 
contact  with  neighborhood  groups.  But  these  mission  rooms, 
with  scarcely  an  exception,  have  proven  failures. 

The  reasons  for  their  failure  are  not  hard  to  discover.  In 
the  first  place,  the  buildings  or  rooms  in  which  the  missions 
were  opened  were  chosen  evidently  because  of  their  cheapness 

*  Ihid.,  pp.  38-9. 


Ii8  The  Down-town  Church 

rather  than  because  of  their  fitness  as  places  of  worship.  A 
dark,  poorly  ventilated  room  on  a  back  street  has  no  attractive- 
ness to  people  who  have  been  used  to  cathedrals  in  Europe, 
neither  does  it  appeal  to  the  native-born  American  who,  how- 
ever degenerate  he  may  have  become,  has  an  innate  repugnance 
toward  that  which  is  cheap  and  unimpressive. 

Another  reason  for  their  failure  was  the  fact  that  they  were 
under  the  control  and  direction  of  people  who  lived  outside 
the  district.  They  were  undemocratic.  There  is  an  air  of 
patronage  also  about  such  an  institution,  that  makes  it  repug- 
nant to  self-respecting  people.  It  is  established  apparently 
on  the  supposition  that  the  well-to-do  people  of  the  suburbs 
are  saints,  while  the  people  of  the  slums  are  sinners.  How- 
ever devout  and  sincere  the  motive  of  those  in  charge  of  the 
mission,  there  is  certain  to  be  that  feeling  of  class  consciousness, 
of  moral  and  social  superiority,  which  will  be  resented  by  those 
to  whom  they  want  to  minister. 

Such  missions  often  reach  children,  but  rarely  adults.  They 
are  predestined  to  failure.  As  a  method  of  work  in  down- 
town sections,  they  have  nothing  to  commend  them. 

Another  method  still  in  use,  a  method  as  old  as  the  Christian 
era  itself,  is  that  of  evangelism.  It  is  the  method  used  by  the 
rescue  missions,  by  some  of  the  strongly  evangelical  churches, 
and  by  city  evangelistic  committees.  As  we  have  indicated, 
these  methods  are  not  wholly  barren  of  results.  Impressive 
figures  are  given  by  the  agencies  using  them.  But  few  will 
question  the  statement  that  the  permanent  results  are  rather 
meagre,  and  that  the  practical  value  of  such  methods  to  neigh- 
borhoods is  practically  nil. 

"The  old  evangelism,"  says  Dr.  Josiah  Strong,  "assumes  a 
knowledge  of  religious  truth  on  the  part  of  the  people  which 
does  not  exist  in  the  down-town  city.  It  has  won  great  victories 
in  the  past,  but  mostly  by  inducing  men  to  do  what  they  them- 
selves acknowledged  to  be  their  duty.  Well  seasoned  convic- 
tions are  the  fuel  with  which  the  flame  of  religious  feeling  is 
kindled.  Such  religious  knowledge  and  belief  as  were  general 
a  generation  ago,  are  now  rare  in  the  down-town  city.  .  .  . 
The  old  evangelism  is  a  process  of  reaping;  and  in  spiritual 


The  Efficient  Down-town  Church  1 19 

husbandry  as  in  natural,  it  is  folly  to  expect  to  reap  what  has 
not  been  sown."^ 

Among  the  degenerates  of  the  lodging-houses  and  tender- 
loin districts,  evangelical  appeals  often  hxu\g  responses.  But 
among  immigrant  groups,  such  appeals  are  meaningless  and 
create  suspicion  and  antagonism.  With  them,  religion  needs 
not  a  logical  but  an  experimental  demonstration,  while  among 
all  groups  the  need  is  for  constructive  effort  rather  than  emo- 
tional appeals.  "As  long  as  we  are  content  with  saving  a  few 
individuals,  we  may  be  satisfied  with  the  old  evangelism,  but 
when  we  seriously  consider  the  saving  of  the  city,  its  utter  in- 
adequacy becomes  obvious." 

Another  method  which  has  been  used  extensively  and  effect- 
ively in  the  down-town  sections  of  our  cities,  is  that  of  the  "in- 
stitutional church."  This  method  of  church  work  has  attained 
prominence  in  less  than  a  quarter  of  a  century.  But  the  idea 
underlying  it  has  become  so  generally  accepted,  that  few  vigor- 
ous and  influential  churches  are  left,  that  do  not  have  some 
activities  that  might  be  classed  as  institutional. 

The  institutional  church  is  based  on  the  principle  that  the 
church  should  be  "the  center  and  source  of  all  beneficent  philan- 
thropic effort, "  and  that  it  ought  in  the  fulfilment  of  its  mission 
to  "take  the  leading  part  in  every  movement  which  has  for  its 
end  the  alleviation  of  human  suffering,  the  elevation  of  man, 
and  the  betterment  of  the  world." 

"The  open  and  institutional  church  aims  to  save  all  men  and 
all  of  the  man,  by  all  means,  abolishing  so  far  as  possible  the 
distinction  between  the  religious  and  the  secular,  and  sancti- 
fying all  ways  and  all  means  to  the  great  end  of  saving  the 
world  for  Christ."' 

"It  is  an  effort  to  reach  and  serve  more  people  of  the  neigh- 
borhood, to  touch  them  on  more  sides  of  their  lives,  and  to  in- 
fluence them  more  continuously." 

It  is  similar  to  the  social  settlement,  in  that  it  carries  on 
many  activities  of  the  same  kind,  but  it  differs  in  the  intensity 
of  its  religious  social  aim.  All  its  various  activities  have  a 
religious  motive  as  well  as  the  general  motive  for  social  better- 

^  The  Challenge  of  the  City,  pp.  242-3. 

'  From  the  platform  of  the  Open  and  Institutional  Church  League. 


I20  The  Down-town  Church 

ment.     It  dififers  from  the  religious  social  settlement  only  in 
its  emphasis  on  preaching  as  one  of  its  methods  of  work. 

The  methods  of  the  institutional  church  are  correct  in  prin- 
ciple, for  they  are  based  upon  accurate  knowledge  of  neighbor- 
hood needs,  and  are  adopted  or  changed  with  the  idea  of  satis- 
fying these  needs.  The  activities  that  are  carried  on,  are  de- 
signed to  be  a  substitute  for  the  normal  activities  and  equip- 
ment of  the  home,  the  school,  the  government,  and  other  social 
service  agencies.  The  Church  is  primarily  designed  to  minis- 
ter to  moral  and  religious  needs.  Its  peculiar  sphere  is  that  of 
presenting  ideals  of  character  and  conduct.  It  may  well  leave 
the  satisfaction  of  other  wants  to  other  institutions.  But  if 
these  other  wants,  physical,  and  social,  intellectual  and  civic, 
are  not  adequately  provided  for,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Church 
to  supply  the  want  or  to  see  that  it  is  provided ;  in  short,  to  pro- 
vide an  environment,  where  it  does  not  exist,  favorable  to  the 
development  of  the  normal  man. 

"The  normal  home  does  not  exist  in  the  down-town  city. 
Tenement  life,  and  over-crov/ding  have  practically  destroyed 
home-life.  It  is  the  purpose  of  the  institutional  church  to  be- 
come in  some  measure  a  substitute.  It  opens  a  reading-room 
and  social  parlors  where  those  who  have  no  good  literature  in 
their  homes  may  read  and  meet  their  friends.  It  provides  op- 
portunity for  recreation  and  social  fellowship  under  conditions 
that  are  safe  and  helpful.  All  these  helps  to  a  normal  physical, 
social  and  intellectual  life  should  have  been  provided  in  the 
home,  but  the  home  is  not  performing  its  proper  function.  It 
would  be  better  if  the  home  did  its  own  work  for  it  can  have  no 
adequate  substitute.  But  where  the  home  practically  does  not 
exist,  the  church  can  do  its  saving  work  successfully,  only  by 
undertaking  that  of  the  home  also."^ 

It  is  the  duty  of  the  Church  to  see  that  the  life  of  the  com- 
munity is  organized  in  such  a  way  as  to  promote  moral  con- 
duct and  social  progress.  If  there  is  a  lack  of  intellectual 
stimulus,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Church  to  provide  it  or  inspire 
others  to  provide  it.  Berkeley  Temple  in  Boston,  the  first 
church  to  be  called  an  institutional  church,  saw  the  need  of 
educational  classes  for  the  young  men  and  women  of  the  board- 

^  Open  Church  Magazine^  Jan.,  1897. 


The  Efficient  Down-town  Church  121 

ing  and  lodging  houses  of  the  neighborhood.  It  opened  a  night- 
school,  and  was  so  successful  that  institutions  whose  function 
it  was  to  educate,  were  led  to  see  the  need  and  relieve  the  church 
of  its  burden. 

If  a  neighborhood  lacks  recreational  facilities,  the  Church 
should  see  that  they  are  provided.  The  People's  Tabernacle 
of  Jersey  City  has  provided  elaborate  facilities  in  this  direc- 
tion, and  most  of  the  other  well-known  institutional  churches 
have  gymnasiums  or  recreation  rooms. 

If  hospital  and  nursing  facilities  are  inadequate,  the  church 
should  provide  them,  not  as  a  bait  to  lure  unsuspecting  people 
into  the  church,  but  because  there  is  human  need,  which  is  not 
being  ministered  unto.^ 

There  is  little  question  as  to  the  success  of  the  institutional 
church.  Occasionally  institutional  activities  are  discontinued 
by  churches  because  they  are  not  effective.  Ruggles  St.  Bap- 
tist Church  in  Boston  gave  up  its  institutional  work  because 
its  unwise  methods  of  charity  were  pauperizing  the  community, 
and  defeating  the  very  purpose  of  the  church .^  But  the  record 
of  the  institutional  church  is  in  general  one  of  success. 

The  Episcopal  churches  have  with  few  exceptions  "parish 
activities,"  and  as  we  have  noted  in  Chapter  Four,  they  are 
practically  the  only  Protestant  churches  in  the  down-town  dis- 
trict of  Philadelphia  that  have  not  decreased  materially  in 
membership  during  the  past  thirty  years.  Other  elements  of 
strength  have  contributed  to  their  stability,  but  not  the  least 
important  cause  of  their  strength  is  their  ministry  to  community 
needs. 

No  better  example  of  the  success  of  a  ministering  church 
could  be  given  than  that  of  St.  George's  Episcopal  Church, 
New  York  City.  When  Dr.  Rainsford  became  rector  in  1883, 
"the  church  was  practically  without  a  congregation,  with 
limited  facilities  for  parish  work.  When  he  resigned  in  1906, 
he  had  seven  thousand  under  his  care,  with  an  endowment  of 
$300,000,  yf'ith  a  parish  building  complete  in  equipment  and 
accommodations,  a  deaconess   house,  trade-school,  a    sea-side 


1  See  art.  "Institutional  Churches,"  in  Enc.  Social  Reform. 
»  See  The  Homiletic  Review,  Feb.,  1907,  p.  114  et  seq. 


122  The  Down-town  Church 

cottage,  an  efficient  force  of  twenty  men  and  women,  and  an 
army  of  volunteer  helpers."^ 

He  converted  St.  George's  from  a  church  attracting  a  de- 
creasing few  one  day  a  week,  to  an  institution  of  manifold  help- 
ful activities,  serving  and  attracting  people,  seven  days  a  week. 
He  made  it  a  recreational  and  educational,  as  well  as  an  in- 
spirational center  for  the  neighborhood,  and  the  people 
responded.  The  principles  upon  which  the  work  was  estab- 
lished were,  ist,  the  basis  for  permanent  parish  work  must  be 
laid  in  the  Sunday  School;  2nd,  co-operation  of  all  in  service 
and  financial  support;  3rd,  centralization  of  authority;  4th, 
system  and  efficiency  in  administration;  5th,  a  spiritual  pur- 
pose in  and  through  all.  "It  was  never  a  parish  house  with  a 
church  attached,  nor  a  church  with  a  parish  house  attached. 
It  was  a  church,  a  place  of  religion,  expressing  itself  in  all  these 
various  ways."^ 

No  large  part  of  the  success  of  this  church  is  attributable  to 
personality  and  administrative  ability.  But  it  is  also  because 
genius  was  applied  to  the  solution  of  neighborhood  needs  that 
success  followed.  No  less  gifted  men  using  traditional  methods 
had  failed  in  the  same  parish,  and  are  still  failing  in  fields  more 
promising. 

The  success  of  the  Wesleyan  Movement  in  England,  also 
affords  proof  of  the  value  of  adapting  methods  to  meet  chang- 
ing conditions.  Methodism  in  that  country  was  in  a  decadent 
and  discouraging  condition.  Hugh  Price  Hughes,  depressed 
by  the  stagnation  and  sterility  of  the  church,  began  the  study 
of  conditions.  He  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  church  was 
too  much  wedded  to  traditional  methods,  that  the  methods 
used  by  Wesley  while  of  much  value  in  the  period  when  Eng- 
land was  largely  rural,  were  no  longer  adequate  to  city  condi- 
tions. By  agitation  and  education  he  finally  succeeded  in 
launching  what  was  called  the  "Forward  Movement." 

The  leading  principles  of  this  movement  were,  1st,  That 
mission  halls  should  be  located  in  the  centers  of  destitution 
and  wickedness;  2nd,  That  social  methods  and  means  should 


*  Hodges  and  Reichert,  The  Administration  of  an  Institutional  Church,  pp. 
314-5. 
'  Hodges  and  Reichert,  op.  cit.,  p.  314. 


The  Efficient  Down-town  Church  123 

be  used  freely,  not  only  to  win  the  attention  of  the  people  to 
the  gospel,  but  also  to  minister  immediately  to  crying  needs 
which  the  church  has  no  right  to  ignore  on  the  plea  that  her 
mission  is  spiritual  only;  3rd,  That  the  ch^jrch  should  concen- 
trate her  strong  ministers  and  financial  forces  on  these  mis- 
sions.* 

Great  mission  halls  have  been  established  in  London  and  in 
many  of  the  larger  cities  of  England,  and  the  success  which  has 
attended  them  is  most  remarkable.  A  statistician  of  the 
Wesleyan  Church  claims  that  of  the  fifty  seven  thousand  net 
increase  in  membership,  during  the  decade  from  1898  to  1908, 
three-fourths  came  directly  through  the  mission  halls.* 

McCulloch  says,  "The  prosperity  of  the  Wesleyan  Church 
in  London  since  1886,  is  very  largely  due  to  the  Forward  Move- 
ment. In  the  three  London  districts,  there  are  forty  churches 
among  those  which  have  not  adopted  the  open  church  methods 
of  the  Forward  Movement,  and  every  one  of  them  except  three 
has  a  smaller  attendance  now  than  it  had  in  1883.  These 
forty  churches  have  decreased  44  per  cent  in  attendance  since 
1883,  or  a  combined  loss  of  10,289  persons.  The  churches 
which  were  taken  over  by  the  Forward  Movement  and  converted 
into  open  churches,  have  increased  22  per  cent  in  attendance, 
and  have  increased  105  per  cent  in  membership.  This  is  the 
net  increase  after  allowance  has  been  made  for  removal  to  the 
suburbs  which  for  mission  districts  has  been  immense."^ 

The  last  report  of  the  Wesleyan  Missions  indicates,  that 
while  they  are  not  having  the  phenomenal  success  which  dis- 
tinguished their  work  at  first,  yet  their  efforts  continue  to  elicit 
a  response  far  in  excess  of  that  accorded  churches  using  the  old 
methods. 

An  interesting  experiment  is  now  being  tried  in  New  York 
City  under  the  direction  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  A  de- 
serted church  building  that  stands  in  a  section  now  character- 
ized by  cheap  theatres,  moving  picture  shows  and  saloons  has 
been  reopened  as  a  center  of  social  and  religious  uplift.     It  is 


*See  McCulloch,  J.  E.,  Open  Church  for  the  Unchurched,  for  the  best  ac" 
count  of  this  work. 

«  Crawford,  W.  H.,  The  Church  and  the  Slum,  p.  142. 
•Op.  cit.,  pp.  51-2. 


124  The  Down-town  Church 

a  typical  down-town  district,  in  which  traditional  methods 
utteriy  failed.  A  careful  survey  of  the  community  has  been 
made,  and  methods  have  been  introduced  to  meet  the  needs  of 
the  community  as  they  have  been  discovered .  Great  illuminated 
signs  have  been  hung  out  which  attract  the  notice  of  the  passing 
throngs.  Beautiful  moving  picture  shows,  better  than  those 
given  by  the  nearby  theatres,  are  regularly  given  for  the  chil- 
dren. There  are  concerts  and  good  plays  and  readings  other 
nights.  The  church  is  bustling  with  activity  every  night  in 
the  week,  and  all  day  Sunday,  after  twelve  o'clock,  for  the 
workingman's  Sunday  does  not  begin  until  noon.  There  are 
three  religious  services  every  week,  Sunday,  Tuesday  and  Fri- 
day nights,  and  these  fill  the  church,  as  well  as  the  entertain- 
ments. The  remarkable  thing  about  these  services  is,  that 
half  the  congregation  are  Jews.  No  attempt  is  made  to  pro- 
selytize, but  many  are  reported  as  exceedingly  responsive  to 
the  Christian  message. 

This  experiment  is  of  value  because  it  is  a  scientific  attempt 
to  solve  the  down-town  problem  of  the  church.  It  is  of  too 
recent  origin  to  estimate  its  permanent  value,  but  there  is  every 
indication  that  the  methods  employed  are  accomplishing  their 
purpose. 

The  methods  of  the  institutional  church  are  correct  in  prin- 
ciple and  if  employed  wisely  and  in  the  right  spirit,  and  carried 
to  their  logical  conclusion,  have  every  probability  of  success. 
They  seek  an  accurate  knowledge  of  needs,  and  then  adapt 
themselves  to  the  solution  of  those  needs. 

The  institutional  church  has  been  criticised  because  of  its 
emphasis  on  other  than  spiritual  matters;  but  evidence  is  not 
lacking  that  the  spiritual  results  of  institutional  churches  are 
very  much  greater  than  in  churches  using  the  conventional 
methods.  It  is  scarcely  fair  to  compare  the  results  of  institu- 
tional churches  at  work  in  difficult  fields,  with  churches  of  the 
traditional  type  at  work  in  fields  favorable  to  growth,  yet  such 
a  comparison  shows  that  institutional  churches  have  larger 
accessions  than  churches  of  the  ordinary  character. 

The  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  New  York  City  is  using 
institutional  methods  far  more  commonly  than  any  other 
church  and  it  is  growing  more  rapidly  than  any  other  denomin- 


The  Efficient  Down-town  Church  125 

ation.  In  this  denomination  too,  the  churches  which  are  grow- 
ing most  rapidly  are  the  institutional  churches.  In  Philadel- 
phia last  year,  the  down-town  Episcopal  churches  had  an 
average  of  27.20  confirmations  each,  while  the  churches  outside 
of  the  district  had  an  accession  by  confirmation  of  only  22.43 
each.  Nearly  all  Episcopal  churches  have  parish  activities, 
but  the  down-town  churches  have  made  these  methods  par- 
ticularly prominent. 

"A  test  applied  to  all  churches  of  the  Congregational  denom- 
ination showed  that  during  the  preceding  year,  the  average 
socialized  church  had  precisely  six  times  as  many  additions  on 
confession  of  faith  as  the  average  non-institutional  church, 
while  all  that  was  accomplished  by  the  former  in  behalf  of 
cleaner  and  healthier  bodies,  better  informed  minds,  and  a 
more  wholesome  social  and  civic  life,  was  a  bonus,  over  against 
which  the  old-line  churches  had  nothing  to  show."^ 

It  is  to  be  recognized  that  the  mere  organization  of  educa- 
tional and  recreational  classes,  the  holding  of  mother's  meet- 
ings, and  the  giving  of  concerts  and  entertainments,  are  not 
sufficient  to  solve  the  whole  problem  of  religious  indifference. 
The  attitude  of  the  masses  toward  the  church,  as  has  been  in- 
dicated, is  in  large  part  due  to  the  social  and  economic  condi- 
tions in  which  the  people  live.  A  keen  observer  of  religious 
conditions  in  New  York  City  says,  "The  churches  as  churches 
have  not  waked  up.  They  are  still  dallying  with  symptoms; 
offering  classes  and  gymnasiums  to  people  who  are  underfed 
and   underpaid,   who   live   in   miserable,   unsanitary   homes."* 

But  the  methods  of  the  institutional  church  if  carried  to 
their  proper  conclusion,  will  see  that  people  are  not  underfed 
and  underpaid,  and  that  they  have  homes  both  comfortable 
and  sanitary. 

The  true  church  will  seek  to  provide  an  environment  favor- 
able to  normal  development.  It  will  contend  for  sanitary 
factories  and  homes,  for  a  fair  division  of  the  products  of 
industry,  for  the  protection  of  women,  children,  and  the  in- 
capacitated, in  short,  for  justice.  And  until  such  can  be  brought 
about,  will  provide  substitutes  according  to  its  ability. 

*  Strong,  Josiah,  The  Challenge  of  the  City,  p.  218. 

*  Baker,  R.  S.,  "The  Social  Unrest,"  American  Magazine,  June,  1909. 


126  The  Down-town  Church 

Let  churches  study  community  needs,  and  then  adapt  their 
methods  to  the  satisfaction  of  those  needs,  however  desperate 
and  deep-seated  they  may  be,  and  the  problem  of  the  down- 
town church  as  of  every  other  church  will  be  near  solution. 

The  equipment  of  any  church  must  be  conditioned  by  and 
commensurate  with  its  method.  The  need  of  each  community 
must  determine  the  size,  style  and  equipment  of  the  building 
that  is  to  minister  to  the  satisfaction  of  those  needs.  In  gen- 
eral, however,  it  may  be  said,  that  a  church  that  will  attract 
and  influence  the  population  of  the  down-town  city,  must  be 
sufficiently  large  and  imposing  and  of  such  an  architectural 
character  as  to  inspire  respect  and  admiration.  Poor  people 
despise  a  mission  room;  they  are  awed  by  a  cathedral.  The 
one  awakens  contempt;  the  other  creates  reverence. 

The  down-town  church  should  be  something  more  than  four 
walls  with  a  roof.  Such  a  building  was  adequate  to  the  needs 
of  this  section  a  generation  ago.  But  under  present  conditions, 
a  church  needs  to  be  more  than  a  preaching  station.  It  should 
retain  its  pulpit,  for  preaching  is  necessary  in  order  to  present 
ideals,  and  to  inspire  people  to  the  adoption  of  ideals.  But 
the  sermon  on  Sunday  must  be  supplemented  in  most  cases 
by  personal  contact,  and  helpful  ministry,  for  six  days  in  the 
week,  to  be  effective  with  down-town  populations. 

Provision  should  therefore  be  made  for  class-rooms,  club- 
rooms,  social  parlors,  reading  rooms,  gymnasiums,  and  for  the 
satisfaction  of  such  needs  as  may  be  revealed  by  the  study  of 
neighborhood   conditions. 

Effective  service  cannot  be  rendered  with  defective  equip- 
ment. Churches  should  therefore  be  adequately  supplied  with 
all  that  may  be  found  necessary  to  the  performance  of  their 
function. 

J.  Financial  Support 

The  problem  of  financial  support  at  once  becomes  important 
in  the  discussion  of  methods  and  equipment.  The  lack  of 
adequate  financial  support  has  been  the  determining  factor  in 
the  case  of  almost  every  church  that  during  the  past  thirty 
years  moved  away  from,  or  became  extinct  in  the  do.wn-town 
sections  of  Philadelphia.     With  the  removal  of  the  well-to-do 


The  Efficient  Down-town  Church  127 

people  who  lived  here  a  generation  ago,  and  in  the  incoming 
of  a  poorer  class,  the  churches  were  left  stranded,  except  as 
they  were  endowed  or  except  as  the  old  constituency  continued 
to  send  back  money.  For  most  of  the  churches  there  were 
only  two  alternatives,  removal  to  better  neighborhoods,  or  ex- 
tinction, and  most  of  them  frankly  acknowledged  their  inability 
to  survive,  disposed  of  their  property,  and  transferred  their 
activities  to  a  more  favorable  locality. 

As  individual  congregations,  they  are  not  to  be  con- 
demned or  ridiculed  for  doing  so.  Finding  it  impossible  to 
function  in  an  unfavorable  environment,  they  simply  obeyed 
the  instincts  of  self-preservation,  by  moving  to  an  environ- 
ment where  they  could  function  and  hope  to  survive  and  it 
was  perhaps  better  for  the  interests  of  religion  for  them  to  move 
away  than  to  remain  in  a  decadent,  lifeless  and  inefficient 
condition,  and  thus  give  the  impression  that  religious  institu- 
tions, being  unable  to  save  themselves,  could  not  save  others. 

Not  the  individual  congregations,  but  the  denominations 
back  of  them  should  bear  the  burden  of  blame. 

If  the  Christian  law  of  responsibility,  "ye  that  are  strong 
ought  to  bear  the  burden  of  the  weak,  and  not  seek  to  please 
yourselves,"  had  been  obeyed  within  the  denominations,  the 
hegira  of  the  down-town  churches  might  have  been  prevented, 
at  least  in  many  cases.  We  would  not  insist  that  it  was  pos- 
sible, or  even  desirable,  for  all  the  churches  of  a  generation 
ago  to  remain  at  their  former  locations.  Some  communities, 
even  at  that  time,  were  over-churched.  It  was  desirable  that 
there  should  be  consolidations,  re-locations,  and  perhaps  that 
some  should  be  transferred  to  new  communities. 

But  if  denominations  could  have  agreed  upon  fields  of  serv- 
ice, and  then  given  adequate  support  to  the  churches  wi  ich 
remained  in  order  that  they  might  do  effective  work,  the  un- 
holy spectacle  of  forty-four  churches  moving  away,  fourteen 
others  becoming  extinct,  and  thirty  or  forty  others  surviving 
with  greatly  decreased  vitality,  might  have  been  avoided. 
The  denominations  themselves  would  have  seen  results  which 
would  have  been  ample  compensation,  and  many  of  the  anti- 
social conditions  which  now  distinguish  this  section  might 
have  been  prevented  or  long  before  this  corrected. 


128  The  Down-town  Church 

Denominational  boards  or  the  stronger  churches  of  the  more 
favored  localities  should  provide  the  support  necessary  to  an 
adequate  equipment  and  efficient  ministry  in  the  down-town 
sections  of  our  cities.  The  people  to  whom  the  churches  min- 
ister should  not  be  relieved  of  all  financial  responsibility,  for 
"giving"  is  an  important  factor  in  the  development  of  charac- 
ter. More  interest  is  awakened  when  some  responsibility  is 
borne,  and  there  is  less  likelihood  of  pauperization  when  people 
make  some  compensation  for  favors  received.  But  it  is  un- 
reasonable to  expect  anything  like  adequate  support  from  the 
people  of  the  down-town  city  for  religious  institutions.  These 
institutions  must  be  supported,  then,  either  from  without  or  not 
at  all. 

The  mere  existence  of  an  endowment  or  of  adequate  support, 
however,  is  not  enough  to  ensure  an  efficient  church.  There 
are  several  churches  in  this  section  that  have  large  endowments, 
that  have  not  made  any  adjustments  or  installed  any  equip- 
ment necessary  to  the  solution  of  neighborhood  needs.  The 
pastor  of  another  church  complains  that  the  existence  of  an 
endowment  has  given  the  people  the  impression  that  they  do 
not  need  to  exert  themselves,  and  has  thus  had  a  deadening 
influence  upon  the  life  of  the  church.  But  if  an  endowment 
is  simply  used  to  supplement  what  people  can  give  in  order  to 
do  a  larger  and  better  work,  if  there  is  a  social  vision,  and  a 
social  conscience,  a  wise  method,  and  a  proper  spirit  determin- 
ing the  uses  of  the  fund,  it  is  a  great  advantage,  and  makes 
success  possible. 

One  element  in  the  success  of  the  Episcopal  churches  of  this 
district,  as  we  have  noticed,  is  their  financial  power.  Their 
large  endowments  have  given  them  a  stability  which  appeals 
strongly  to  the  defeated  classes  of  their  neighborhoods.  And 
these  endowments  have  made  possible,  too,  the  equipping  of 
their  plants  for  effective  service. 

It  may  be  objected  that  church  boards  are  already  over- 
taxed, and  that  it  would  not  be  possible  under  present  systems 
to  devote  any  more  money  to  city  work.  But  if  the  waste  of 
duplication  especially  in  rural  communities  were  avoided,  both 
workers  and  money  would  be  available  for  aggressive  work  in 
the  neglected  sections  of  our  cities. 


The  Efficient  Down-town  Church  129 

Dr.  E.  T.  Root  of  the  Massachusetts  Federation  of  Churches, 
estimates  that  at  least  half  the  churches  in  the  United  States 
are  superfluous.^ 

Competitive  methods  are  frightfully  wasteful.  The  solu- 
tion of  the  problem  of  city  evangelization  as  of  world  evangeliza- 
tion, waits  upon  the  coming  of  the  co-operative  era.  Without 
an  accurate  survey  of  actual  needs,  and  the  elaboration  and 
execution  of  a  comprehensive  plan,  ^e  cannot  have  the  efficient 
church,  performing  a  maximum  of  service  with  a  minimum  of 
effort  and  per  capita  cost. 

4.  The  Personnel  of  the  Efficient  Down-Town  Church 

The  human  factor  is  an  important  one  in  the  work  of  the 
church.'  The  method  may  be  correct,  the  money  available, 
but  if  the  man  capable  of  wisely  directing  the  method  and  of 
using  the  money  to  the  best  advantage  is  not  available,  the 
experiment  is  likely  to  fail. 

With  the  decline  of  the  down-town  churches  both  in  influence 
and  financial  strength,  weaker  men  have  been  called  to  take 
charge  of  them,  and  unable  to  stem  the  tide  of  defeat,  have 
only  contributed  to  their  dissolution.  "We  usually  send  to 
the  down-town  churches,"  says  Dr.  Frank  Mason  North,  "a 
man  worn  out  in  the  service,  but  expect  him  to  do  an  herculean 
task;  or  else  we  send  a  young  inexperienced  man,  and  expect 
him  to  exhibit  the  wisdom  of  Solomon,  the  courage  of  Paul, 
the  statesmanship  of  Richelieu,  and  the  perseverance  of  Grant; 
for  many  of  these  hard  fields  need  all  these.  But  in  any  case, 
the  man  who  goes  to  these  fields  goes  down." 

The  down-town  field  is  the  most  difliicult  of  any  of  the  fields 
which  the  Church  attempts  to  work.  It  is  a  field  which  calls 
for  the  strongest  men  and  the  largest  resources.  When  once 
the  comprehensive  plan  of  city  evangelization  is  adopted,  and 
church   plants  are  adequately  equipped,   strong  men  will  be 


*  He  cites  the  case  of  a  Congregational  church,  whose  name  was  "Union," 
which  planted  itself  across  the  street  from  a  sister  church,  and  sunk  $250,000 
within  seventy-five  feet  of  a  building  which  could  easily  have  held  both  con- 
gregations. 

'  See  Ross,  Social  Control,  Chapter  21,  for  an  interesting  analysis  of  "Per- 
sonality" as  a  social  factor. 


130  The  Down-town  Church 

attracted  to  these  fields,  and  the  work  will  be  that  much  more 
certain  of  success. 

One  element  of  the  strength  of  the  Episcopal  churches  in 
the  down-town  sections,  as  has  been  noted,  is  the  calibre  of 
their  ministry.  These  strong  well-endowed  old  congregations 
have  been  able  to  attract  the  strongest  men  of  their  denomina- 
tion, and  their  personalities,  and  administrative  ability  have 
contributed  greatly  to  the  success  of  these  churches. 

One  cannot  detach  the  personality  of  Dr.  Rainsford  from  the 
success  of  St.  George's.  And  the  success  of  most  churches, 
as  of  most  other  institutions,  is  closely  identified  with  a  man. 
The  Wesleyan  Movement  of  England  would  scarcely  have  had 
its  great  success  without  Hugh  Price  Hughes.  It  was  one  of 
his  contentions,  that  the  strongest  men  available  should  be 
placed  in  charge  of  the  mission  halls,  and  both  McCulloch  and 
Crawford  attribute  much  of  the  success  of  these  missions  to 
the  fact  that  his  idea  was  acted  upon.  Carlyle  gave  it  as  his 
opinion,  that  if  a  Chalmers  could  be  put  in  every  British  pul- 
pit, the  problems  of  the  church  would  be  practically  settled. 

The  down-town  church,  to  be  efficient,  must  be  well-manned. 
It  should  have  a  staff  of  workers  as  well  as  a  pastor.  In  a  church 
using  conventional  methods,  the  pastor  can  attend  to  all  the 
duties  if  the  congregation  is  not  too  large.  But  in  the  down- 
town church,  whose  method  and  equipment  are  adapted  to 
the  solution  of  neighborhood  needs,  trained  workers  for  different 
departments  of  work  are  almost  a  necessity.  Volunteer  work- 
ers can  often  be  secured  in  large  numbers,  and  they  should  be 
utilized  as  fully  as  possible,  both  for  their  own  sakes,  and  for 
the  service  which  they  can  render.  But  unskilled  volunteers 
cannot  be  a  complete  substitute  for  trained  paid  workers. 

The  down-town  church  needs  to  establish  many  points  of 
contact,  and  to  maintain  these  contacts  continuously.  Its 
workers  must  be  sufficiently  numerous,  therefore,  to  establish 
and  maintain  intimate  relations  with  all  the  people  of  the 
neighborhood  and  to  carry  on  all  the  activities  which  the  needs 
of  the  neighborhood  demand. 

No  rule  can  be  laid  down  that  will  apply  to  all  churches,  but 
a  well-equipped  church  will  see  that  at  least  three  departments 
of  work  are  well-manned,  the  inspirational,  the  educational  and 


The  Efficient  Down-town  Church  131 

the  recreational,  providing  respectively  for  the  moral,  mental, 
and  physical  needs  of  the  community.  One  administrative 
head  may  supervise  all  the  departments  of  work,  but  he  must 
have  assistance  in  conducting  the  activities  themselves. 

One  secret  of  the  success  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  holding 
its  people  is  the  adequate  human  equipment  which  is  provided. 
The  number  of  his  assistants  will  vary  according  to  the  size  of 
his  parish,  but  seldom  is  the  priest  left  to  perform  all  the  minis- 
tries alone.  Generally  he  has  one  or  more  assistants,  and 
several  sisters  to  help  him. 

The  principle  that  must  determine  the  size  and  the  character 
of  the  staff  is  this,  that  the  force  must  be  large  enough  to  enable 
the  church  to  properly  function,  and  it  must  have  that  training 
necessary  to  the  successful  application  of  the  method  adopted. 

The  training  of  these  workers  should  be  not  only  theological, 
but  sociological.  They  need  to  know  not  only  the  theories  as 
to  the  origin  of  sin,  but  of  poverty,  crime  ,and  disease  as  well. 
For  the  latter  complicate  the  problem  of  the  former  and  must 
likewise  be  objects  of  attack. 

It  is  of  comparative  unimportance  to  the  people  of  the  slum 
whether  or  not  the  workers  can  read  the  Scriptures  in  their 
original  languages,  but  it  is  of  great  importance  to  know  about 
housing  reforms,  tenement  laws,  campaigns  against  disease, 
and  the  institutions  and  agencies  of  the  city  that  make  for 
social  welfare. 

Without  this  knowledge  of  conditions  in  which  the  people 
of  the  district  live,  and  without  an  understanding  of  their  at- 
titudes and  ideals,  one  is  not  equipped  for  effective  service 
among  them.  His  appeals  will  meet  with  no  response,  for  he 
will  be  considered  ignorant  of  the  first  principles  of  moral  ad- 
vance. He  must  have  social  vision.  He  must  understand 
the  social  implications  of  neighborhood  conditions  and  attitudes, 
their  inter-relations  and  consequences,  and  be  able  to  help  the 
people  to  an  understanding  of  the  forces  affecting  their  lives. 
He  must  be  able  to  enlist  the  people  in  neighborhood  uplift,  as 
well  as  personal  salvation.  He  must  be  satisfied  with  no  less 
than  a  converted  parish,  a  community  with  higher  ideals,  a 
community  freed  from  those  influences  which  have  been  found 
destructive  to  the  attainment  of  those  ideals,  and  a  community 


132  The  Down-town  Church 

supplied   with   those   agencies   and   activities   essential   to,    or 
helpful  in  the  attainment  of  them. 

5.      The  Motive  and  Spirit  of  the  Efficient  Down-Town  Church. 

What  must  be  the  motives  of  this  institution  in  order  that  it 
may  serve  the  purpose  of  its  existence?  Its  motive  must  be 
none  other  and  no  less  unselfish  than  that  of  the  Founder  of 
the  Church,  who  announced  that  he  came  not  to  be  ministered 
unto  but  to  minister,  and  to  give  his  life  that  others  might  be 
free. 

There  is  no  element  in  the  population  so  quick  to  understand 
the  motives  of  social  service  as  the  poor.  And  no  element  will 
resent  more  bitterly  or  re-act  more  quickly  against  self-seeking, 
than  the  people  of  the  down-town  districts.  The  church  that 
makes  itself  the  end  of  its  activities,  that  thinks  of  the  people 
as  merely  units  of  possible  membership,  that  performs  its 
ministries  in  order  to  increase  its  own  strength,  will  soon  be 
discovered  and  shunned.  But  the  church  that  identifies  it- 
self with  the  people,  that  ministers  because  there  is  human 
need,  will  win  the  respect  of  the  people. 

Any  success  that  social  settlements  have  had,  has  been  due 
to  the  motive  which  has  animated  the  workers.  Educational 
classes  and  clubs,  gymnasiums  and  recreational  rooms,  thrift 
associations  and  other  social  welfare  activities,  have  their  value 
in  the  results  immediately  accruing,  but  their  chief  value  has 
been  in  the  personal  contacts  which  have  been  established 
through  them.  "It  is  persons  that  the  human  and  social  prob- 
lem needs,  persons  coming  forward  out  of  a  great  sympathy. 
.  .  .  And  it  is  the  fact  that  settlements  emphasize  this  need 
and  seek  to  supply  it,  that  makes  them  of  such  immense  import- 
ance to  the  task  of  social  transformation."  Canon  Barnett 
of  Toynbee  Hall  says,  "Vain  will  be  higher  education,  music, 
art,  or  even  the  Gospel,  unless  they  come  clothed  in  the  life 
of  brother-men." 

The  Protestant  Church,  unlike  the  Catholic  Church,  has  no 
method  of  compulsion.  The  relation  of  its  members  to  it  is 
purely  voluntary.  It  must  therefore  give  convincing  proof  of 
its  value  and  efficiency,  in  order  to  attract  people  to  it.  It 
must  win  and  hold  by  the  force  of  affection.     It  can  make  no 


J 


The  Efficient  Down-town  Church  133 

claims  to  divine  right.  The  strength  of  its  appeal  must  be  in 
its  ministry  to  human  need.  It  must  succeed,  in  other  words, 
not  by  philosophical  or  historical  argument,  but  by  proof  of 
its  humane  purpose,  genuine  sympathy,  and  real  usefulness. 

The  motive  of  the  Church  must  therefore  be  genuine,  and 
manifestly  pure  and  unselfish,  or  it  will  have  no  basis  for  appeal. 
Its  spirit  must  be  Christ-like  and  humane,  or  its  ministries  will 
be  mechanical  and  ineffective. 

The  time  has  come  for  the  churches  to  make  a  scientific  ad- 
vance upon  the  evil  conditions  of  the  slum.  The  forces  affect- 
ing moral  decay  are  now  quite  accurately  known.  The  churches 
realize  at  last  the  futility  of  conventional  methods.  Denomina- 
tional rivalries  while  not  yet  extinct,  need  no  longer  stand  in 
the  way  of  a  comprehensive  plan  of  city  evangelization. 

Denominational  boards  of  home  and  city  missions  should 
as  a  first  step,  unite  in  a  thorough  and  scientific  study  of  the 
actual  social,  economic,  moral  and  religious  conditions  of  the 
city.  The  division  of  responsibility  can  then  be  decided  and  a 
comprehensive  plan  adopted  which  will  avert  duplication  of 
effort,  and  by  division  of  labor,  ensure  direct,  intimate  and  care- 
ful oversight  of,  and  ministry  to  every  block  in  the  city. 

With  the  facts  discovered,  the  method  can  be  employed 
which  gives  promise  of  greatest  usefulness.  The  money  will 
be  forth-coming,  for  experience  shows  that  people  are  willing 
to  support  that  which  brings  results.  Men  of  social  vision  and 
training  will  be  available,  because  such  a  plan  will  stimulate 
and  inspire  men  of  ability  and  consecration.  The  motive,  if 
true,  will  make  the  whole  effective. 

The  church,  especially  in  the  down- town  sections,  has  entered 
into  a  transitional  stage.  Modern  industrial  life,  with  the 
political,  social  and  economic  conditions,  consequent  upon  its 
development,  together  with  the  growth  of  scientific  knowledge 
and  habit  of  thought,  have  changed  the  attitude  of  the  masses 
toward  the  church  and  organized  religion.  The  Church  can 
no  longer  command  as  once  it  could.  Traditional  claims  are 
questioned;  conventional  services  and  appeals  are  ignored; 
materialistic  tests  are  applied;  the  Church  has  lost  influence 
and  prestige.  Stolid  indifference  characterizes  a  large  part 
of  this  social  group. 


134  ^^^  Down-town  Church 

But  the  Church,  now  alive  to  the  situation,  has  begun  to 
discover  the  causes  of  alienation,  and  is  seeking  to  readjust 
itself  to  the  new  conditions  in  order  that  it  may  recover  and 
retain  its  place  among  social  institutions,  and  its  power  over 
men. 

The  Church  as  an  institution  of  inspiration  to  noble  living 
is  needed.  Especially  is  it  needed  in  the  section  where  con- 
ditions are  depressing  and  demoralizing.  There  is  no  institu- 
tion or  group  of  institutions  that  can  become  an  adequate 
substitute  for  it.  The  Church  must  therefore  study  the  situ- 
ation, and  take  its  proper  place  and  perform  at  all  costs  its 
proper  function. 

The  down-town  churches  of  the  past  have  proven  the  truth 
of  that  famous  paradox,  "he  that  saveth  his  life  shall  lose  it." 
The  down-town  churches  of  the  future,  will  prove  the  truth  of 
that  complementary  paradox,  "he  that  loseth  his  life  for  my 
sake  and  the  gospel's,  the  same  shall  find  it." 


U  JNXVJiXfcO-tX  X     K/C     V- 


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ii^  103j> 


FEB  22  1935 


15* 


28^^^^ 


f\i'  * 


Mlan'6i:<K^ 


RECrD  1  o 


JAN  1 5  "^961 


APR  2  1  1966  8  i^ 


(aift21  •BS't't'^^'- 


OVlS  1370 


Ul<^.-  Oin- 


LD  21-100to-8,'34 


